Icy Warmth
by NekoFelia
Summary: ToshiroxOC! With the arrival of the new member, Toshiro has to do deal with all the problems that comes with her, her personality, and her past. Remade Summary! Canon(kinda, will follow both manga and anime)! R&R!
1. Chapter 1

SO HIHIHIHI. Haha, anyways, this is gonna be my first fanfiction EVER. Toshiro x OC. I've always had a little girly crush on little shiro and decided to unleash my ideas in the form of a fanfiction! Starts out pretty slow but it'll get better as you read! Hope ya'll enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing this~! R&R- makes me feel very happy inside~ BTW, 3rd person POV

Chapter 1

A feeling of disatisfaction was rumbling about inside the new member of the 10th squad. In all honesty, she didn't want to be in this squad, however, it was better than being in the 11th squad that was full of bloodthirsty monkeys just going around looking for a fight. A sigh escaped small pink lips as the owner sat down on a ledge right in front of the door leading to the Captain's office, her nails tapping against the rough wood. She was nervous. She graduated the acadamy a week ago and was immediately assigned to squad 10 due to the lack of members after the whole ryoka incident. Another sigh escaped her pink lips before the creaking of a door causing a quiet squeak and tiny jump from the new shinigami sitting on the ledge, interrupting the onslaught of thoughts. A hand was quickly placed upon the area above her fast-beating heart, trying to regain a proper composure. She turned her head around to see the large-breasted squad 10 lieutenant, a bright smile plastered across the beauty's face.

"Ah! Sorry to keep you waiting long! Hurry up inside!" Lieutenant Matsumoto exclaimed cheerfully, flipping her hair before walking back inside the office. The nervous new shinigami quickly stood up and walked into the room almost roboticly, her hands stuck to her sides, clutching onto the black fabric of her shihakusho. Standing before her was the child-prodigy Hitsugaya Toshiro, his piercing turquoise eyes staring right at her. There was a minute of silence before his voice broke through, his eyes still piercing through the woman in front of him.

"Yume Kurami." Toshiro narrowed his eyes at the woman in front of him, analyzing her. She had waist-long jet black hair that seemed to stay completely straight and perfectly in place. Her eyes remained a mystery, Toshiro's sharp eyes only gazing at the straight bangs that reached right above Yume's nostrils. Slender and tall, tall. The captain of the 10th division gave a quiet sigh, he had to have _another _subordinate where he had to look up at to have a proper face to face conversation with. Or face to bangs. Toshiro gave another take-over at the paper in front of him that displayed information about his new member. "A kido expert eh..." Kurami beamed at that, a sense of pride filling within herself. Yume didn't consider herself a master at kido but she held some confidence at her skills in that particular area. "But having just barely average zanjutsu abilities huh." The black haired woman gripped her shihakusho even tighter at the mention of one of her biggest weak points. Her zanjutsu abilities was like a giant black stain on a white shirt. It frustrated Yume! Everyday she would practice on her zanjutsu, hoping to get better. When she saw her report on her zanjutsu ability and seeing that she barely passed, she felt unbelievabley relieved. But now, Yume had to get better and better on her swordsmanship. Although, she had to admit, she did spend much more time on her kido than her zanjutsu.

Toshiro stared at the woman in front of him, noticing the unintentional small frown that adorned her face once he spoke of her zanjutsu. The captain just sighed and rested his head on his hand, looking back at the paper in his hand. '_Zanpakuto...unknown? Has she not aquired her zanpakuto yet?_' Turquoise eyes narrowed at the printed words before gazing back at the black-haired woman before him. "Kurami, have you aquired your zanpakuto?" Toshiro narrowed his gaze at the slight trembling and fidgeting from the new member. What was her problem?

"N-No I haven't captain." Said captain's perked up at the sound of her voice. It was soft and quiet, a bit high-pitched. His eyes softened at Yume's voice. It wasn't like Momo's caring sisterly voice...It was more like...like...The captain didn't exactly know what to compare the voice to. It was full of kind warmth, a welcoming warmth that nobody could ever reject. But at the same time, it held a small icy edge to it as if the woman didn't want anybody to become too close to her. It was like she could never have a close best friend. Toshiro quickly dismissed the topic regarding Kurami's voice and returned to the _important _one at hand, the girl's zanpakuto. _'So she hasn't acquired her zanpakuto huh...'_ The captain of the 10th division let out a small sigh of understanding, however he was still a bit doubtful about it.

"I see..." Toshiro closed his eyes and thought to himself for a minute on what to do with his new subordinate. "Kurami." The tall shinigami slightly shook at the sudden mention of her last name. "Yes, Captain?" The Captain's expression slightly softened, but then hardened once more before stating in a straight commanding voice. "I appoint you as the 7th seat of the 10th division. Now go review these papers and bring them back to me when you're done." Yume's mouth slightly opened in shock, her hidden eyes widening. She couldn't believe she actually got a seat, 7th seat none-the-less! The black-haired woman quickly straightened her posture and gave a slight smile before walking up towards her captain's desk. Toshiro grabbed the pile of papers that his lieutenant Matsumoto was _supposed_ to do instead of going to a bar and drinking to her hearts content, completely forgetting about her responsibilities and handed them over to his new 7th seat. His snow-white hair gently shook as he nodded in approval of the seat he gave Kurami. Once he felt the weight of the papers dissapear from his hands, Toshiro looked up (much to his distaste) towards his fellow subordinate and caught a glimpse of one of her eyes. It was like time stopped for just a few seconds. Her eyes were like a swirl of all the shades of red and orange and yellow. They seemed to glisten naturally but at the same time seemed somewhat dull. It was like pulling in his turquoise, his gaze unwavering from those eyes. They were so...so beautiful. And then time resumed again, Kurami's eyes being hidden by the thick cloud of her pure black hair. The captain straightened himself and coughed, bringing himself back to reality.

Yume backed away and bowed down in respect towards her captain. "Very well then captain. See you." Yume turned on her heel and walked out of the office, her sandals making slight clacks on the smooth wood of the office. Toshiro's eyes watched as her black hair swayed left and right and then it was gone with the sound of a door shutting.

Carrying the pile of papers, Yume quietly walked to her room in one of the buildings of the 10th division barracks. She put the papers down neatly on a small wooden desk and picked up a pen, getting ready to start and finish the paperwork given to her. At first, Yume started out strong, having her full attention on the paperwork, but then as time went by, her focus began to diminish as her mind trailed off to different thoughts. And soon, the black-haired girl face planted into her desk, frustrated at her incapability to finish her work. There were just too many thoughts going around in her mind, distracting her. Coming to the conclusion that she should just take a small break to contemplate her thoughts so that she could resume working at her fullest ability (not wanting to make mistakes being half-focused). _'Maybe being in the 10th division won't be as bad as I initially thought. Captain Hitsugaya isn't that scary or intimidating...maybe he is actually.'_ Yume scratched her head at the thought of the Captain. His snow-white hair and turquoise eyes stood out more than anything. The girl didn't really find it scary, she found it...shockingly beautiful. Despite how it was looked spikey, the tall girl couldn't help but think of how soft and fluffy it was- ok. She had to stop there. Yume once again face planted into her desk and ruffled up her jet black hair. Her unimportant thoughts were taking over and she couldn't be having that. With a deep breath, Yume dispelled the thoughts about her Captain and resumed back to her paperwork.

After a few hours of paperwork, Yume finally finished, straightening the stack of papers in her hand, a sigh escaping her pink lips. Looking down at the stack, Yume smiled in satisfaction at her work while walking towards the captain of the 10th divison's office. She took a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the nature surrounding the barracks. As the tall girl approached the door leading to the Captain's office, Yume suddenly felt a relieving cold breeze. It was soothing against her warm skin and it cooled down the skin being stuffed up from her shihakusho. Yume lightly knocked on the door and stood still, waiting for permission to enter the office. A few minutes went by, the tall girl fidgeting around with her feet. Was something going on inside? What if the Captain wasn't in at the moment? Deciding to see for herself, Yume opened the door as quietly as possible. The black-haired girl's eyes widened at the sight.

"MATSUMOTO! How many times do I have to tell you to not hide any sake under my desk!" Captain Hitsugaya voice yelled out, his veins visible on his forehead. "C'mon Cwaptain! Hash shome fun! Hahahahahaha!" Rangiku slurred joyfully, clearly drunk. Anybody could tell from how she spoke and the stench of alchohol lingering in the office. Captain Hitsugaya scowled in anger at his lieutenant's behaviour, although this wasn't that much of a surprise to him seeing as how this was a weekly thing now. He pinched his nose, the stench of alchohol still reeking in the air. A frustrated sigh escaped the Captain's lips before his eyes narrowed at his lieutenant that somehow fell asleep within the span of 5 seconds.

Yume just stood at the doorway, her mouth gaping and her mind processing what just happened in front of her somewhat shielded eyes. Yume stared at the strawberry-blonde haired woman sleeping on the couch, a bottle of sake sitting next to it. Then, the 7th seat looked back towards her captain, who was pinching the bridge of his nose, his face scrunched up in a scowl. The tall woman didn't know what to do and immediately regretted the decision to walk into the office. Well, she couldn't just walk out of the office to wait for her captain to cool down. The end result would be a bit too awkward. "Umm...Captain Hitsugaya?" a familiar soft voice reached the irritated Captain's ears, somewhat calming him down. He lifted his eyes open to look at his new 7th seat, noticing the pile of papers she was carrying. The Captain took a deep breath and exhaled. "Just put the papers on my desk Kurami." The papers were immediately set on the desk, giving off the sound of a light thud. Toshiro waved his hands, dismissing the 7th seat.

The pure black-haired girl bowed and began to walk towards the door but then glanced back towards the still somewhat irritated Captain. Although it would've been the safer move to just continue walking, Yume just needed one look at the captain to unconsciously blurt out "Captain Hitsugaya, would you like some tea?" Realizing what she just said, the tall girl quickly stiffened. Oh Spirit King, she was just asking for some yelling! She shouldn't have said that, she shouldn't have said that, _she shouldn't have said that_.

Toshiro perked his head up, staring at Kurami. _"Would you like some tea?"_ The words repeated in his head. Turquoise eyes stared back down at the large pile of unfinished papers on the desk that the Captain had to finish by the end of the day. Tea sounded nice and could help him stay awake for the rest of the busy day. "Sure. Bring some in Kurami." The words rolled off his tongue with a hint of fatigue. The captain barely got any sleep the day before and nice warm, fresh tea sounded too inviting to pass up. "Y-Yes!" Kurami's soft voice sounded relieved and when Toshiro looked at the door, it was closed.

Yume was smiling to herself as she went to go get some tea for the Captain. Captain Hitsugaya just looked so tired and the girl was worried for the captain, although she hardly needed to probably, she was just happy that she could help.

That took me like...4 hours cause I was watching youtube videos inbetween writing x3! Anyways, hope you guys enjoy the chapter *^*! I have a lot planned for the next one =w=. I plan on uploading at least one chapter a week! Tell me any suggestions you have please, it'll probably help and give me some epic ideas! Anyways, ciao~


	2. Chapter 2

o3o So heres the 2nd chapter! Was listening to some music while typing this down =w= kind of a bad choice since it distracted me from the story half the time but I luvedddd the music . I know the chapters have been pretty short but I just wanted to publish a few this week to get things started. Including, I've been doing these pretty late at night and I have school so xP. Hopefully the chapters will get better during the weekend which isn't so far away! YAAAY! 3 Anyways, Enjoy!

FORGOT TO PUT THIS ON THE FIRST CHAPTER D: BUT: I DONT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT THE OC'S

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ch.2

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Yume walked into her room to make the tea that she knew her Captain would enjoy. Grabbing a few tea leaves, the 7th seat made a pot of warm tea while humming a random tune. Her eyes watched as the water turned from clear to a nice pale green, the scent emitting from the tea leaves intoxicating. Putting the pot full of tea and a cup on a small circular mahogany tray, Yume carefully walked back to the Captain's office. All sorts of images of herself dropping and spilling the tea because of stupid clumsy trip or bumping into a fellow subordinate's shoulder flashed within the black-haired girl's mind. A relieved sigh escaped Yume's pink lips when she finally reached the door that lead to the Captain's office.

Knocking lightly on the wooden door, Yume waited for her Captain to give the ok for her to enter. Hopefully this time, the 7th seat wouldn't have to walk in on her own and see a drunken Rangiku and a furious Captain. Those worries instantly dissapeared the second the girl heard the familiar voice. "Come in."

The black-haired girl smiled at seeing Rangiku still sprawled on the couch sleeping peacefully and the Captain working on his paperwork. Yume steadily walked over to the desk piled with papers and set the tray on a small open space. Toshiro didn't even need to look at Kurami to figure out that she was pouring this _utterly delicious _smelling tea into a cup for him to eventually gulp down and savor. The snow-white haired captain took another deep breath, enjoying the smell of the tea. It was a pleasent change from the constant smell of sake that came from his absolutely _lovely, amazing, and hard-working _lieutenant.

Yume carefully set the cup of warm tea in front of her Captain, watching as the steam rose up and dissapear into the air. The exhausted grabbed the cup of tea and took a nice long sip of it. The warm liquid spread throughout his mouth, filling it with its surprisingly sweet taste. It made the young Captain think of amanatto, perfectly fitting his tastes for sweet things exactly. Was his new 7th seat psychic or something?

The black-haired girl watched the Captain gulp down the tea. Her eye narrowed at a bead of liquid that flowed down his throat and drip down into his shihakusho; his throat taking large gulps of the tea. The 7th-seat began to worry that the Captain might choke on it!

Within the span of 15 seconds, the entire cup of tea was gone when Captain Hitsugaya set the fragile glass object back down on his desk. Turquoise eyes stared down at the empty cup, his face slightly scrunched up, dissapointed that there was no more of the delicous tea. Toshiro looked up at Kurami, noticing the small smile that graced her round face. Yume gave a quiet giggle at how the Captain looked when he saw the empty cup. The 7th seat quickly refilled the cup with the warm liquid, happy that her Captain was pleased with the tea she prepared for him. Yume always liked sweet things and sweet tea was no exception. She was ecstatic when she saw the Captain drinking the tea down quickly, happy that he loved the tea just as much as she did. Or, at least the girl hoped so.

Placing the newly refilled cup in front of the Captain, Yume watched the white-haired Captain in front of her stare at the tea before taking a small sip and setting the cup back down. "I'm glad that you liked the tea Captain." The light voice was accompanied by a small giggle. Toshiro looked at the girl in front of him, realizing that she saw him gulp down the tea like a starved human that was lost in the desert. The turquoise eyes swiftly looked back down at the papers in front of the young captain, trying to look like he was going to go back to his work, however his mind was in a different place.

Thinking that that was her cue to go, Yume began to walk to the door before noticing the sake bottle that was still by the pale green couch Rangiku was sleeping on. The black-haired girl walked over and grabbed the bottle, planning to dispose of it so that when the lieutenant woke up she couldn't immediately go back to drinking. Yume could still smell the sake inside the brown bottle. Her nose scrunched up in disgust.

Within the span of 3 miliseconds right after the bottle was picked up, a loud familiar voice interrupted everything that was happening within the office. It all happened so fast that nobody had time to process what was going on. "DON'T TOUCH ME PERVERT!" Rangiku yelled out of her sleep. Her chest sprang up and her arms immediately pushed Yume's chest with a surprising amount of strength that even caused the poor black-haired girl to get thrown back. Unfortunately, the couch and the Captain's desk just had to be near eachother. Yume crashed into the completely confused Captain, toppling him onto the floor with herself.

"Ooowww..." Yume groaned with a slight hiss. Although, the landing wasn't as hard as she thought. Yume's hands instinctively felt the thing beneath her, noticing how soft the fabric was._ 'Wait what. Why is there cloth on the floor? Wait, why would there even be cloth on the floor...'_ Turning her head around almost mechanicly, the black-haired girl gulped. Turquoise eyes were staring back at the girl, much too close for comfort. His ragged breath was cold against Yume's neck, shending a few shivers down her spine. But nothing could compare to how close their bodies were. Yume was sitting on top of her _Captain_. Oh Spirit King the two were in a very _awkward _and easily _misunderstood _position. Yume could feel the well toned body underneath her's, the softness of his snow-white hair tickling her forehead. His turquoise eyes drawing in her very own. The 7th seat couldn't think properly with the Captain so close. It was like the girl was in a dream.

Toshiro gulped as he felt blood quickly gather around in his cheeks. Just two inches in front of him was Kurami's face, her right eye visible from how close the two were. The Captain could feel the girl's body warmth on top of his cold one, his breath coming out in ragged lengths. He watched as the 7th seat's face quickly mirrored his own, a redish blush tinting her creamy skin. Her small pink plump lips were drawn together in an awkward line and Toshiro could feel her quick breathing from how her breasts expanded and contracted against his chest. Luckily, Kurami had the decency to wear her entire shihakusho properly which covered up her surprisingly large breasts. Toshiro could feel her soft silky hair brush against the skin of his neck and the rapid beating of her heart. And the Captain knew she could feel his accelerating heart as well.

"K-Kurami..." The Captain spoke softly, loud enough so that the girl on top of him could hear. The sudden voice broke through the sound of the two's beating hearts, pulling Yume back into reality. The girl quickly got off of her Captain and stood up, looking at her feet in embaressment. Toshiro soon followed, standing up and looking anywhere except for the 7th seat in front of him. Only one day in and the two were already in quite the awkward situation.

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...omg. I can't believe I just typed that and then posted it. I know its not really that heart-thumping but still! =w= the development. Oh I could just imagine this and feel everything that went on. Haha, poor Rangiku probably gonna have to deal with the wrath of both Toshiro and Yume. Anyways, I like to keep this short. Review please c; it always makes my day. Have even more planned for the next chapter. I'll always have a plan. Anyways, Ciao~!


	3. Chapter 3

Hihi~! Welp, I'm going to try and make this chapter longer than the previous two so yeah. =q= Hope you guys enjoy this chapter 3 AND ALSO *dies*, just realized that 7th seat was already filled =.=;; Should've checked before anything else. Well, just consider Kokichiro Takezoe as the 6th seat! Hahahaha...good cover-up right?

And also, thanks for the review **Angel's Sanity**! I'm so happy you enjoyed the chapter...a lot 3 Its making me want to update even more! Hope you enjoy this chapter too!

I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR MY OC'S

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Ch.3

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This was awkward. A bright red tint covered both Toshiro's and Yume's faces. The two were desperately looking away from each other despite being right in front of each other. Yume clenched the black fabric of her shihakusho, taking steady even breaths in an effort to calm down her hammering heart. _'He-He was so close to me!' _The girl took a glance towards her Captain, taking in the sight before her. His turquoise eyes were focused on something to the left of Yume, a bright crimson blush masking the Captain's face. _'How adorable...'_ A small smile graced the girl's faces before she caught herself, quickly dispelling such thoughts towards her Captain. If the Captain knew what was going through the 7th-seats mind, Yume might as well change her name and move out of the Seireitei! She should not be thinking of her Captain as an _adorable _and _cute _child. The Captain was probably much older than the 7th seat and though plenty of hard-work earned the title of the Captain of the 10th squad. Thinking of him as a child would be a horrible insult towards the Captain!

Long jet-black locks waved around in the air as Yume shook her head to clear her mind. Taking a deep breath, the girl forced her voice to come out of her lips. "C-Captain Hitsugaya...If there's nothing that you would like me to do, I'll be taking my leave now!" The last part unintentionally said a bit too loud.

Before Toshiro could even respond, black locks simply swayed in the air for a mere second before dissapearing along with the 7th seat who shunpoed out of the room. The white-haired Captain let out a long breath, sitting down in his chair. The Captain face-palmed himself, his hands slightly ruffling his white locks. _'Great...Just great. One day in and things are already awkward with my 7th seat.' _A frown painted Toshiro's face. Another long sigh escaped his lips. Toshiro let his hand fall onto his desk and took a deep breath before stiffening. Turquoise eyes widened. There was a strong sweet intoxicating smell of tea in the room. There was also a cold wet feeling enveloping the fallen arm. Agonizingly slowly, Toshiro narrowed his eyes downward towards his desk, taking in the horrific sight.

Dripping down the wooden desk was the sweet tea that Kurami made for Toshiro, making a little puddle on the floor. Toshiro's eyes made their way up the desk, his eyes twitching at the wet _documents _that the Captain was supposed to fill out, review, ect.

Toshiro looked for the person who started the entire mess, his eyes searching every nook and cranny. However, while the 7th seat was distracting the Captain, sneaky Matsumoto quickly escaped the office, knowing that her Captain would forever berrate her with an endless stream of words that would ultimately be ignored. A vein quickly popped up on Toshiro's forehead, his hands gripping the ends of his desk.

"MATSUMOTO!"

xxx

Yume flopped onto her fluffy white futon, a long sigh escaping her lips. Her hands layed atop the area abover her heart, feeling the soft yet still rapid beating.

After a few minutes, the black-haired girl's breathing returned to it's normal pace. Yume turned onto her side and narrowed her eye on her hands. _'Soft yet hard at the same time...I could feel some muscles too...his body was cold. Nice and refreshingly cold.' _Yume gave a small sigh accompanied by a slight smile at the feeling. _'Wait what am I thinking!?'_ The red tint once again returned to her creamy skin. _'I had to think of this right after I finally calmed down!' _Yume's lips formed into a small pout as the girl rolled around on her soft futon, flailing around like a fool.

xxx

Poor Yume stayed up the majority of the night contemplating her first day with squad 10. Picking herself up off her futon, the black-haired girl went over to her dresser and stared at the reflection. The girl looked like she just got thrown into a tornado! Her long pure-black locks were sticking out all over the place and her face looked like it was planted in dry dirt for 5 hours!

All sorts of noises could be heard inside the 7th-seat's rooms as the girl fumbled around the place. Yume took a nice long bath; washing her hair and ridding her body of any dirt and sweat. Then, she dried her hair, combing it using straight strokes. Even if the black-haired girl didn't care too much about her appearence, she still had the decency to make herself look presentable.

Yume walked out of her room in her standard shihakusho, taking a deep breath of the surrounding nature. The girl let her body feel refreshed, letting the serene smell of grass, sakura trees, and daffodils fill her senses and relieving her of any sign of fatigue.

After stretching for a minute or two, the tall girl walked over to the nearest 'training grounds'. The ground was dry, hard dirt with a thin layer of sand on top. Small weeds were sprouting out of cracks and over by the top left corner was a large boulder. There were two trees near the top right that were growing on the small amount of tiny grass that resided in the grounds. When Yume first walked into the 10th division (which was the day before) and saw this area, she dubbed it as her 'training grounds' for the future. Yume wrinkled her nose, the nature-filled smell was gone and replaced with the smell of dry dirt and sand.

The black-haired girl's footsteps made small crunching noises as she stepped on the hard sand-covered dirt. Yume stopped when she was directly in line with the large boulder, just a few feet away.

Making her arm and hand come up, Yume pointed her index finger straight in the middle of the large boulder in front of her. Narrowing her eyes, she concentrated her reiatsu into her out-stretched finger, making the reiatsu denser and denser.

Toshiro was on his way to his office, coming back from a meeting. The Captain sighed, his turquoise eyes drooping down. He really needed some sleep. Luckily, Toshiro was able to finish all his paperwork and the documents that got ruined by the tea weren't that important. The white-haired Captain brought his hand up to his mouth to stifle a yawn until he suddenly heard the crackle of electricity and a faint presence of reiatsu. He narrowed his eyes towards the resonating direction and before his legs began to make its way over to the area, curiousity taking over.

Toshiro's sandals made soft clacks on the wood of the barracks. He took a long breath, savoring the fresh smell that seemed to drift along the wind. The Captain made a mental note to himself to come over to this particular area of the living quarters again. This area was absolutely blooming with flowers compared to the other areas that were either lacking in nature or a misplaced desert. There were even large fruitful trees that gave a nice shade for warmer days.

Toshiro came to a crunching halt once he reached his destination. A few feet away from him was his 7th-seat and in front of her was a large boulder with a near-perfect small circular hole right in the middle of it. Kurami had a serious expression on her round face, her index finger held outward pointing towards the boulder. She didn't seem to pay any attention to the Captain causing Toshiro to raise an eyebrow at that. Perhaps the tall girl didn't notice him, but that was pretty unlikely. Was she ignoring him? Maybe she was still getting over the event that happened the day before. Remembering the event made the Captain give a small blush. He himself hasn't even gotten over it.

All signs of the blush immediately dissapeared when Toshiro heard a loud crackle. His turquoise orbs immediately narrowed at the 7th-seat before slightly widening. Kurami looked exactly the same like a few seconds ago, however, there was another circular hole that cut into the boulder and went out the other side. It was so quick that if it wasn't for the evident hole and crackle, Toshiro would've never guessed what had happened.

Toshiro watched closely and quietly as the black-haired girl shifted the position of her left hand into that of a gun: her thumb poiting upwards and her index finger still outstretched. It looked like a kid's interpretation of a gun when they were playing "war" or "army" or whatever with their friends. Yume's mouth curved upwards into something that resembled a cocky smirk. Her voice was faint and quiet, Toshiro could barely hear it. "Pew" With just that one word, a small perfectly circular bolt of lightning erupted from the index finger, carving another precise hole into the boulder, as her left hand cocked backwards, making it seem like the "gun" was just fired.

Yume brought her left hand up to lift her bangs up and it scrunched up with the jet-black hair on top of her head. It was getting a bit to warm for her tastes. Maybe she should go lie down under one of the sakura tree shades. Hand still up trying to cool her forehead from the stuffy feeling the long bangs gave her body, Yume turned on her heel and nearly fell onto her bottom. Oh Spirit King Captain Hitsugaya scared the crap out of her!

Toshiro cocked an eyebrow at his 7th seat's sudden shake. Maybe she really didn't know that he was standing there watching her this whole time. Kurami's lifted bangs revealed the stunning shades of crimson that was within her eye. Much to his dissapointment, the tall girl let her left arm fall to rest at her side and the long bangs once again fell to hide the jewel behind it.

"C-Captain Hitsugaya!" Kurami's voice held a surprised tone, her lips curved into a thin line, althought slightly parted revealing hints of her pearly whites. "What are you doing here?" She added in a cheery tone.

"Just passing by." Toshiro said, covering up the fact that he was actually staring at her perform kido, before adding "Actually, I need you to help me with some paperwork, Kurami." That was no lie. The Captain had some paperwork that needed some looking-over and his lieutenant was most-likely out drinking sake with somebody.

"Ok Captain Hitsugaya!" There was a short pause before the 7th seat's mouth widened into a smile "Would you like me to bring some tea?"

The delicious sweet tea that tasted amazing and ruined some of his papers? "Sure. I'll be waiting inside my office." The Captain swiftly replied in a straight serious tone, trying to hide his happiness from being able to once again taste the exquisite and relieving drink.

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After about 10 minutes, Captain Hitsugaya heard a slight knocking on his office door. "Come in" Kurami opened the door, revealing a tray topped with a tea pot and a few cups being held by her hands. The intoxicating smell was faint but the Captain could still pick up the intoxicating scent.

Yume set the tray onto her Captain's desk and filled a cup with the pale-green liquid. Carefully placing the cup near the Captain, the tall girl took a deep breath, enjoying the aroma emitting from the tea. "I hope you enjoy the tea Captain Hitsugaya." Yume gave a slight smile towards her Captain.

"Hn" was the only response the black-haired girl got before Toshiro picked the fragile cup up and tipped it into his mouth, savoring the liquid that spread within his mouth. Setting the cup back down, the somewhat refreshed Captain lifted a stack of papers and thrusted them towards his 7th seat. "Here's the paperwork. You can use the desk by the window over there from now on. Not like anybody else is going to use it anyways." Toshiro grumbled the last part to himself, flashing a small scowl. The Captain cocked his head towards said the 7th seat's near desk and let his hands fall back onto the papers that he himself were doing when Kurami took her paperwork.

Yume just gave a slight nod and sat down at the desk pointed out by the Captain. Placing the papers down and grabbing a feather, quickly dotting it with ink from an ink bottle, the girl quickly went to work.

Xxx

_Tick_. _Scratch_. _Tick. Scratch Scratch. Tick. Scratch. Ti- _"HELLO WORLD!" A sudden slam of the door opening shocked the two shinigami that were dilligently working on their paperwork. Toshiro looked at the busty strawberry-blonde that suddenly burst into the room. An annoyed sigh escaped his lips. "Matsumoto..." The Captain groaned in irritation. On the other hand, however, Yume snapped her feather, drawing the attention of the already-annoyed Captain.

On her paperwork was a giant ink-splotch that was obviously not ment to be there. When Rangiku suddenly burst into the office, Yume got scared half-to-death and accidently dropped her inked feather onto her papers. A vein throbbed on the black-haired girl's hidden forehead. She made a _mistake. _Unfortunately, the angry 7th seat wasn't going to let the lieutenant get off the hook with a simple lecture from the Captain. Oh no, this was going to get _very _bad for lieutenant Matsumoto.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto..." Yume quickly stood up from her seat making the Captain raise an eyebrow at what the 7th seat was going to do and making the very drunked lieutenant turn her attention to the black-haired girl.

"Ah! Yume-chan!" Rangiku turned on her heel to face the very angry 7th seat. The drunken woman stretched her arms out into the form of a hug. "Want some sake?" The woman suddenly pulled a bottle of sake out of thin air and held it towards the black-haired girl who was growing even more furious by the second.

Then suddenly, Yume held her head up and displayed a smile that frighteningly resembled the Captain of the 4th squad's smile whenever she was angry. "Lieutenant Matsumoto, please accompany me outside the office." That was no request.

"Sure Yume-chan! Hwahaha, lets go have some sake outside!" Rangiku slurred out, following the still-smiling Yume out of the office. Right before the black-haired girl closed the door, her light voice caught the attention of the Captain. "Please excuse me for a moment Captain." And then there was a quick slam of the door.

Toshiro just stared at the door that the two girls just exited. The confused Captain cocked an eyebrow. Was she going to go have a quick drink with Rangiku? Toshiro snorted at the thought. He highly doubted that would happen after seeing the frightening smile that was painted on his 7th seat's face.

The Captain nearly jumped out of his seat from hearing loud crashes, crackles of electricity, and loud groans and moans. Toshiro was about to go out to see what was going on when he heard Rangiku yell out for helps that were followed by ows and "NOOOOO!". The white-haired Captain quickly decided against the idea once he heard a low chuckle coming from the familiar voice of his 7th seat. This was certainly a new side of Kurami.

And then everything was once again silent. The creaking of the door was soon heard by Toshiro as he turned his head to see both Kurami and Matsumoto enter the room. Kurami was smiling while Matusmoto had her hair covering most of her face. Rangiku's head was down as she walked to the couch and sat down on it, pulling her knees to her chest and just rocking there.

Toshiro's turquoise widened at the sight. "Sorry about that Captain. I'll be returning to my paperwork now." Kurami's soft voice attracted the Captain's attention, her small smile unwavering.

"A-Ah..."was all the Captain could mutter before looking back at his lieutenant who was acting absolutely _insane._What in the Spirit King happened between the two. Matsumoto is acting like she just witnessed a murder and Kurami just seems normal.

Yume, on the other hand, just continued smiling while she sat back down on her desk and went back to work after setting the inked papers aside. She could only hope that the lieutenant would keep her mouth shut about what had happened between the two. The girl also hoped the lieutenant would step up her act and actually do some work. Yume only gave a quiet chuckle.

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Welp, yeah. I just made my OC a bit creepy! And I'm completely ok with that :D. Anyways, hope the characters aren't too OOC. =q= if it is, put it in a review! Critisize me as much as possible 3 it'll make my stories better! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed typing this down c; I just broke Rangiku! Hahaha...Anyways, Ciao~


	4. Chapter 4

HEY! Back for chapter 4 3 Glad to see people are enjoying this story of mine c; Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Hoping to make this chapter longer than the previous ones! However, since it'll take me a while you guys will have to wait a bit for the upcoming chapters. Btw, was listening to a song called Sweet Devil while typing this down and it put weird thoughts in my head ;_; This is awkward! Anyways, *****coughs * off to the story!

Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR MAH OC'S

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ch.4

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Toshiro glanced up from his papers to look at his lieutenant who was actually doing _work_, as little as it may be. He gulped and shuddered at the fact that his 7th seat actually somehow made Matsumoto actually even hold her paperwork and even _work _on it. This was beyond the Captain's understanding. He was beginning to question reality and thought somebody with a weird grudge against him cast a kido spell on him to make him dream of all this stuff. Although, that was highly unlikely but that was more believable than what was happening in front of him.

His icy-turquoise eyes looked over towards the 7th seat who was dilligently working as usual. Toshiro was relieved to know that Kurami was completely fine with working on paperwork, even the ones that weren't part of her stack. The Captain sighed, at least he had a subordinate that was willing to do her work and more.

Reading through the several papers that were stacked neatly on his desk, the white-haired Captain noticed a particular piece of paper that was titled "Mission" in big bold letters. Taking the papers into his hand, Toshiro scanned through it before sighing once again.

"Kurami" Toshiro proceeded when he saw said girl looking at him "I need you to go the human world to get rid of some hollows. I'll have you lead a few new recruits from our squad, show them how things are done."

Over the past month, his 7th seat has demonstrated that despite having not learned her zanpakuto's name, she was still able to get work done faster than those with one. The girl was able to cast kido quickly and precisely, defeating hollows just as quickly as shinigami with a zanpakuto and ones that were more skilled in zanjutsu. Although, her lack of power when it came to close-combat wasn't as amazing, she was able still reliable when it came to weaker hollows.

A smile graced Yume's face as she walked over to the Captain's desk to retrieve the mission papers. As she walked out of the office, Yume looked back. "I hope that you'll do my paperwork while I'm out, Lieutenant Matsumoto." A smile tugged at Toshiro's face as he looked towards his lieutenant.

"S-Sure Yume-chan. Ahahahaha, I can last a few days without sake...It'll be just a few days right?" Rangiku said, a shiver running down her spine. A smile from the black-haired girl was the only response Rangiku got before Yume walked shut the door behind her.

Xxx

Yume took a deep breath of the air. It wasn't as light and fresh as the air in the Seireitei much to Yume's dissapointment. She glanced back at the unseated recruits behind her. They looked nice and strong, a glint of happiness appeared in Yume's eye. She was excited at showing her fellow subordinates the ropes to being a shinigami.

A loud beeping sound went off in Yume's hand, drawing the attention of the four 10th squad members. She flipped the modified device known as a phone open and her lips formed a smile. "Hollows, lets go!" The four flash-stepped towards the sound, Yume having to go at a slightly slower pace than usual so that the new recruits could keep up with the fast 7th seat.

The hollow was huge. It stood on two feet with a spiked tail that flicked back and forth and something similar to fins decorated it's pale green elbows and back. The mask resembled what the humans would call a "pirahna", it had large spikes lined on where a mouth would be. The usual hole on every hollow's chest.

"Hado number 4: Byakurai!" Yume yelled out, signaling for the extermination for the hollow to begin. A loud feral roar erupted from the beast at the sudden blast of pain that came from it's right arm.

The three recruits jumped towards the hollow, taking the chance to destroy it's white mask. However, large green claws came up to try and swat the three out of the air.

"Bakudo number 4: Hainawa!" A crackling yellow rope tied down the large hollow, making it kneel down and collapse on the ground from legs that were tied together. Another loud roar bellowed from restricted hollow, followed by a screech once two of the recruits cracked the white mask apart from a strike of their swords.

Yume ran over to one of the recruits that was on the ground, gripping a gash on his stomach. "Here let me see." A green glow appeared around the 7th seat's hands as she healed the wounded recruit. "Does it feel better now?"

The now healthy recruit touched the area where the wound once was. "Yes, thank you!" His smile was then replaced by a frown. "I'm sorry I couldn't have helped as much..." Yume just flashed him a small smile and patted the recruit reassuringly on the back, earning a slight groan.

"Haha, it's fine, relax, relax! You'll get the hang of it in nooo time." Yume said, her smile growing wider. "Lets get going though, this one here won't ever be the last. We still have some hollows that need to be killed." She added, flash-stepping towards the next hollow that was about to meet it's demise.

"W-Wait for us!" The three recruits flash-stepped towards Yume, trying to catch up with her tall frame.

Xxx

It had been two days since the four shinigami left on their mission to exterminate hollows. Toshiro sighed as he stepped out of his office. Matsumoto was dozing off on the couch, murmuring about how she didn't want to do anymore paperwork.

"Captain Hitsugaya!" A shinigami came rushing towards the white-haired Captain. "You have a mission given from the Head Captain." The shinigami pulled out a few papers from their sleeves, handing it to the Captain in front of him before flash-stepping off to who knows where.

"Watching out for arrancar in the human world huh..." Toshiro's turquoise eyes narrowed down at the papers in his hands. His mind then thought of his 7th seat and the three recruits that he sent to the human world to exterminate some hollows. He needed the four back in the Soul Society, they would die in a heartbeat if an arrancar would appear before them. He didn't want them to get involved with the arrancar and throw away their lives. Toshiro sent a hell butterfly to relay his orders to Kurami, hoping that the four would be back before any arrancars arrived.

Toshiro watched as the butterfly fluttered away before turning on his heel back towards his office to wake up his sleeping lieutenant for the upcoming mission. The group was supposed to be in the human world by tomorrow, the sooner the better.

Xxx

Yume stopped moving as she saw a hell butterfly flutter towards her, its black wings beating. It landed on her outstretched finger, relaying the orders from her Captain to come back to the Soul Society immediately. She raised a black brow to this. _'So soon? Somethings up.' _

"Hey, we have orders to return to the Soul Society immediately." Yume looked back at her recruits who nodded in unison.

"Yes Ma'am!" The three had gotten into the habit of calling the 7th seat "Ma'am" and it aggravated her! Yume wasn't used to the formalities!

"How many times do I have to tell you three to stop calling me tha-" A heavy reiatsu suddenly interrupted Yume's scolding, weighing the four shinigami down like a pile of bricks. "What in the..." the three recruits were on their knees from the heavy spiritual pressure, unable to stand from the weight. Yume flared her spiritual pressure in an effort to keep herself from collapsing to the floor.

Yume turned her head towards the direction the reiatsu was pratically flowing out of like a flood. Her eyes widened in realization. _'There...There were innocent people over there! NO!' _"Shit" The black-haired girl flash-stepped towards the area, forgetting about her orders to immediately return and the three recruits that were still on the floor, looking towards the 7th seat in shock. Yume couldn't let anything happen to the innocent lives there, they still had so much to live for! It was a shinigami's duty to protect and save the innocent! Even if she was disobeying orders, the black-haired girl _would not _simply leave innocents to their demise. No, she would _never _do that, no matter the situation. Even if she knew that she would die protecting them. Foolish or not, that was how Yume Kurami worked, and there was nothing that could change that.

Upon arriving at the scene, Yume stifled a gasp. There were two beings that were letting their reiatsu flood out and crush any nearby humans. One of them had black hair and was much shorter than the other one that was basically towering over all. The black-haired one had green eyes that also had green stripes running down from his eyes to his chin and deathly white skin. The much larger was was considerably buff with tan skin. He had large bushy black side-burns and something like a jawbone on his jaws. His eyebrows were orange and there was a large "10" on his chest, right above a hole. What they worse seemed to be the opposite of a shinigami's uniform. They're clothing was white with black outlines. Yume's eyes widened in recognition, _arrancars_.

Right in front of the two arrancars were what looked like the ryokas that invaded the society a month ago. There was one with long burnt orange hair that was kneeling behind a taller and tanner man. The man had brown mop hair that covered his eyes and a strange looking arm. Behind the orange-haired one was a teenage girl who seemed to be on her deathbed. There was an orange bubble surrounding the unconscious girl protectively.

Orihime had her hands to her mouth, staring wide-eyed at Chad's gash that was leaking blood. The blood was overflowing as Chad tried to stop the bleeding by holding onto it with his other hand, but to no success. Tears began to form under her steely brown eyes. "Ch-Chad-kun..." Orihime whispered in horror. _'I-Ichigo! Help us!'_ She cried out in her mind, silently scolding herself for being so useless.

Yume looked at the three humans. They were trying to protect each other. Yume gripped the cloth of her shihakusho in frustration. She was hiding on a tree-branch, away from the scene. The black-haired girl didn't want to rush into the fray without a plan.

"Bwahahaha! Look at you worthless trash! I'll kill you all!" The giant arrancar bellowed as his arm began to go back, preparing to punch the one known as Chad.

The shorter one just sighed in annoyance. "Yammy, just make this quick and stop playing around with trash."

Chad wouldn't let his friends get hurt while he was there. He held his armored arm up to try and block the incoming punch. A burst of pain shot through the arm from the gash that was still overflowing with blood. The world was beginning to become dim, his consciousness wavering.

The giant arrancar let his hand fly towards Chad in a punch, his hideous laughing erupting from his throat from how weak the humans were. Chad crouched into defensive position, his armored up to block the attack. However, he never felt the force of the punch.

"Who are you!?" Yammy yelled out in frustration at Yume. She held her sword up with both of her hands, one on the black and gray hilt, the other on the flat on the blade. "Hey Ulquiorra, is this the one we're looking for?"

The one known as Ulquiorra just gave another sigh before shaking his head. "No Yammy, its just more trash. Can't you even tell from her reiatsu? She has nothing noteworthy."

"Well then...since you're just trash I'll just kill you along with the rest!" Yammy yelled out with another one of his laughs. He put more force into his punch, pushing Yume down and down. However, the black-haired girl refused to relent, pushing back the punch with her own power.

"Hado number 11: Tsuzuri Raiden!" Yume's sword began to crackle with electricity before it began to erupt from her sword and into Yammy's large hand.

"GAH!" The large arrancar jumped back and looked at his now burnt hand. "You bitch! I'll kill you for that!" Yammy bellowed in fury as he began to gather reiatsu from his surroundings, building up his spiritual pressure.

Yume felt the rapidly increasing spiritual pressure. _'This guy...if I don't do anything the humans are going to be killed along with me...'_ She didn't want to do this. She absolutely hated doing this, but things were going to the extreme and it left the black-haired girl with no choice. Her grip on her sword tightened and her lips formed a frown.

"Repent for your sins, Shi Hanketsu!" Yume's spiritual pressure skyrocketed and her sword began shaking. It began to become shrouded in a black mist and soon, the sword in Yume's hand was pure black, hilt and all. The black mist still lingered around herself. Yume held out her other hand, the black mist forming another pure black sword in it.

"You releasing your zanpakuto doesn't change a thing! Trash is still trash!" A red ball of reiatsu formed in front of Yammy's mouth. It grew larger and larger until it was fired in a red stream towards Yume and the group of humans. "BWAHAHAHA, You'll never survive my cero!"

Yume quickly brought one of her black swords up, pointing the tip straight towards the incoming cero. The black mist swiftly gathered into a black orb, reiatsu pouring into it. "Cry out, Sinner." She whispered, a large silent black stream met the crimson cero, causing a large explosion of black and red.

Yume cringed from the aftermath of the cero. Her stream of reiatsu couldn't block the entire cero from the arrancar, noticeable from the burn marks and small rivelets of blood on her creamy skin. When the dust finally settled down, the large arrancar still stood tall and firm, a few burn marks also plastered on his tanned skin. His brown eyes were wide in confusion. "What the...Impossible! A human firing a cero!?" Yammy spat in disbelief. Ulquiorra raised a brow in mild interest.

"Hmph, I see no reason to justify myself to you arrancars." Yume narrowed her eyes in distaste. Attacking innocent humans, even sucking away the souls of the powerless ones!

Yammy snarled at the tall girl before him. "Whatever! Even if you have a few tricks up you're sleeve, you're still gonna die!" The large arrancar suddenly appeared before Yume, bringing his arm back and swinging at the girl.

The 7th seat brought her jet black swords up into a defensive position, however, a loud howl of pain was heard from the large arrancar when his attacking arm suddenly flew off. Yume's eyes widened and she looked at the one who just sliced the arrancar's arm off.

He had spikey orange hair and a lean masculine form. His brown eyes held determination. The clothing he wore was black with a what looked like rips on the coat. He held his sword with both of his hands, blood dripping down the black-colored metal. The reiatsu he emitted was enormous and followed the common color scheme of his being. Yume narrowed her eyes at him, faintly remembering who he was. _'If I remember correctly, he should be the leader of the ryoka's...Ichigo Kurosaki.'_ A small sigh escaped the black-haired girl's lips; at least he was an ally.

"Hey Ulquiorra...Is that the guy?" Yammy's voice returned the 7th seat's attention to him. The place where his arm used to be was a fountain of blood and everybody could notice the difficulty the large arrancar was having due to it.

"Yes." Was the only response Ulquiorra gave. Yammy's lips curved into a snarl.

"You'll pay for what you did!" Yammy began to deliver a flurry of punches towards Ichigo, who just blocked the attacks and evaded them. "Stop blocking and dodging my attacks dammit!"

Ichigo just frowned at the arrancar in front of him. He was late in protecting my friends, and they had to suffer the consequences. Chad and Tatsuki were struggling to survive and Orihime was just about to join them! The orange-haired man scowled. It was his fault! If only he was faster!

Yume just stared at the infuriated Yammy and the substitute shinigami before something interrupted her focus. "Ma'am!"

The 7th seat froze as she felt three reiatsus suddenly appear near her. No...No...NO! Yume spun on her heal and flash stepped in front of the three recruits that just entered the scene.

"We were worried that something happened to you! What's going on he-" The speaking recruit was cut off by the yelp of pain from their 7th seat. They watched as her blood sprayed across them and a large gash formed across her stomach. Blood was spilling out from the wound and making puddles on the floor.

Yume fell onto her knees from the sudden loss of blood, her hands quickly making their way to the wound to try and stop it from continuing to spill out her life. "You're quite fast." Yume stared up at the arrancar known as Ulquiorra, watching her own blood drip down from his hand. "You're also annoying."

Pain erupted from her shoulder as Ulquiorra slashed down upon it, even more blood spraying from it and onto the white of the arrancar's uniform. However, there was only one thing on the 7th seat's mind.

"You three..r-run." Yume was barely able to whisper the sentence, her world beginning to grow dim.

"Wh-What! What are you talking about Ma'am! We can't just leave you here!" one of the recruits protested but quickly stepped back.

"THIS IS AN ORDER! RUN!" Black locks spun around, Yume's crimson eye glowing. "RUN NOW!" Her voice had no trace of their usual softness and quietness. No, she was screaming at the three recruits to run and live.

The three looked down at the 7th seat, pain etched into their faces and tears beginning to form on their eyes, before flash stepping in the opposite direction of the park.

A small smile graced the bleeding 7th seat's face. '_At-At least they'll be safe...Please humans, please...stay safe and live.'_ Yume collapsed onto the hard floor of the park, her world rapidly growing darker and darker.

The last thing she heard was that of a cheery and light-hearted male voice. "My, my...What do we have here?" and then a slight clack of a sandal. Then all went black.

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Hope the fight scene wasn't too bad! First time writing one and hoping to get better at it. Anyways, I think I caught a cold. Can't stop sneezing and sniffling. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter 3! Also hope that the characters weren't too OOC cause that would be horrible! If they are, tell me in a review and tell me what you think should be fixed! Ciao Ciao~


	5. Chapter 5

Hey~ Its time for ch.5 and I'm so happy people are enjoying the story! Anyways, sorry that I haven't uploaded in a while. Came down with a nasty cold and being the stubborn amazing person I am, I didn't take any medicine! YAAAAY! Haha, well, I'm finally better and stuffs. Hope you all enjoy this chapter. Anyways, off to the story o3o~

Thanks **CeciliaWinnifer** for your review! Glad to see you're excited! Hope that feeling stays throughout the rest of the story~ You're review encouraged me to type this down even faster! Hope you enjoy the chapter c;

Disclaimer: I DONT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR MER OC'S

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Ch.5

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"Hey...Is she even alive?"

"Well if she isn't that'll be a mighty big shame!"

"Maybe I should start healing her again..."

"Orihime-chan, don't worry! I'm sure she'll come back to us. Look, her eyes are twitching."

"Please...be quiet!" Yume quickly sat up but immediately regretted that decision, quickly falling back down onto the soft futon. The sharp pain quickly disappeared, leaving her with a sore shoulder and aching stomach.

"Ugh..." The 7th seat swiftly took a swift sweep of the people surrounding her form. There was one tall man wearing a dark coat that with a white diamond pattern lining the the lower parts, underneath it being just a green shirt and pants. He sported a white and green striped bucket hat, shadowing his eyes, that laid on top of his pale blonder hair. Standing next to him was the substitute shinigami, Ichigo Kurosaki, his spiky orange hair sticking out as usual. Leaning by what seemed to be a doorway was a woman with dark skin and noticeable striking golden eyes, reminding Yume of a cat. Her dark purple hair was pulled into a long ponytail, secured by a beige colored strap and red string.

Yume looked to the left of her being, taking in the sight of an innocent-looking human with long burnt orange hair. Immediately recognizing the human, the 7th seat let out a relieved sigh before quickly regaining all senses of the world.

Worry began to immediately well up inside herself. "Wh-What happened to those three recruits!?"

"We sent them back to the Soul Society. They looked so worried about you, it took a lot to convince those three to go back! Haha, you've got quite the nice group dont'cha." Yume's eye flickered toward the sight of the light blonde haired man. His lips spread into a large fun-loving grin.

The black-haired girl raised a brow at how happy and joking the man's response was but quickly dismissed the topic, all her worry for her subordinates disappearing, soon being replaced by worry for herself. "Then where am I?"

"You're in my candy shop!" The man answered once again, his grin unwavering.

Yume sniffed the air and took notice to the sweet aroma that lingered in the air, verifying that she was indeed sitting on a futon in front of all these people in a candy shop. Something about it didn't quite fit but there were much more important things to be contemplating about. "Who are you people?" There was no hint of concern for who the people around herself was.

"I'm the owner of the candy shop!" The light blonde haired man answer _again_ before a tanned fist met up with his also light skin. "Oowww...What was that for Kuraski-kun? That was awfully rude! I was just answering the young girl's questions." The man replied in a light-hearted and sarcastic tone while he rubbed his throbbing cheek.

"You were hardly answering any of her questions at all!" The substitute soul reaper relied, his voice laced with annoyance. With a frustrated sigh, the orange-haired man began ,"The name's Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute soul reaper."

"I'm Orihime Inoue. It's so nice to see that you're awake!" Yume's attention turned towards the orange haired maiden sitting by the soft futon. A smile graced the maiden's face. _'She's so pure...'_ the black-haired girl couldn't help but smile back at Orihime.

A fake cough brought Yume's attention toward the dark skinned woman that was leaning against the doorway. "I'm Yoruichi Shihoin. Just thought that I should introduce myself since it seems everybody else is gonna do it." A playful grin spread across her face.

"Hey Hey! Don't forget about me! I'm Kisuke Urahara, pleasure to meet you." The light blonde haired man sprang up and began fanning himself with a fan that he pulled out of nowhere, hiding his obvious grin.

Yume repeated all the introductions inside of her mind, trying to memorize all the names. She looked up towards the group of people, all looking at her with expectant eyes. She blinked before realizing that she completely forgot to introduce herself. "Oh sorry! My name's Yume Kurami, 7th seat under the 10th division." Her black-hair fell forward as she slightly bowed. When the girl lifted her head back up, she still saw the same expectant eyes looking towards her form. "Umm...Was there something else?"

Yoruichi just blinked a few times before her grin grew wider. "No no, sorry about that. Just surprised that you're being surprisingly calm despite being in the presence of these possibly dangerous people." Yume tilted her head at the statement.

"If you're talking about how you were all part of the recent ryoka incident and how Urahara-san and Shihoin-chan are both exiled captains, then yes, I know." Yume straightened her head before adding with a small smile ,"Its just that...You all helped me out and saved my life so I don't see any reason to be wary." Her response made Orihime jump towards the black-haired girl into a hug and made the two ex-captains give a light-hearted laugh. Yoruichi wiped away a tear at the "Shihoin-chan", thinking how weird it sounded on herself.

"I-Inoue-chan...you're hurting my back!" Yume squeezed out from her lips, her face turning to a shade of blue and her aching body protesting at the sudden tight hug.

Orihime quickly released the black-haired girl and muttered out an apology accompanied by quick bows. "Sorry about that Kurami-chan!"

Yume just gave an awkward smile in response. "Um yeah...it's a-alright." She reached towards her back and rubbed it in a soothing motion. "Ahahahaha...Anyway-" The black-haired girl was interrupted by the slam of a sliding door opening and a familiar voice.

"Oi, Kurosaki, Uraha-" Toshiro froze at the sight of his 7th seat sitting down on a futon, surrounded by Ichigo, Orihime, Yoruichi, and Kisuke, her shoulder and stomach area wrapped in white bandages. "Kurami? What the hell happened to you?" His voice was laced in worry and confusion towards the 7th seat.

Yume's eyes widened in surprise at the sudden appearance of her Captain in a gigai. 'W-What's_ Captain doing here?! He'll know that I disobeyed orders and to top it off, got myself into such an injured mess! Ugh...'_ She frowned at her current predicament and looked up at the white-haired Captain. How was she going to explain herself?! "C-Captain Hitsugaya...I-It's nice to see you again." The black-haired girl stuttered in response to her Captain's standing form before adding in an awkward laugh. She must have sounded so stupid right now.

Toshiro narrowed his turquoise eyes at the nervous wreck of a 7th seat. Disobeying orders didn't seem like something the black-haired girl would do without a good reason and the aggravated Captain was just dying to hear it. He stared at the white bandaging on the girl's form. '_And it seemed like thanks to her actions, she'll be on bed rest for quite a while.' _The Captain let out a sigh "What happened to you?" He repeated once again, stating it in a much more harsher tone that he intended for it to sound.

Yume gulped, her hands clutching at the edges of her shihakusho. Her eyes darted between the waiting Captain and all the other occupants of the room. Letting out a nervous breath, she began. "I...I got into a conflict with arrancar." The girl looked up into the sharp turquoise eyes of her Captain. She took in a sharp breath when she noticed how his brows furrowed together and his eyes creased into what looked liked anger...or concern?

Letting out a sigh, Toshiro took in the small amount information that his 7th seat gave. There were already arrancar sightings and his 7th seat barely got out alive. "Kurami...Go back to the Soul Society as soon as possible." Narrowing his eyes on the jet-black bangs of the girl, Toshiro added "And this time...stay safe." The slight ruffle of Kurami's hair as she nodded was enough confirmation the Captain needed before he stepped out of the room, deciding he'll address the situation with Ichigo and Kisuke later. Toshiro took a quick glance back at Kurami, a hint of worry and relief laced within his icy turquoise eyes, and then slid the sliding door closed.

Yume just continued to stare at the sliding door before a sigh left her small pink lips, sadness clearly shown from the action. "Captain..." She tried to lift herself up from her futon but immediately regretted it and flopped back down, gritting her teeth from the jolt of pain that shot up her spine.

"Kurami-chan! Please, just rest for a while..." Orihime reverted her attention back to the injured shinigami, worry etched all over her face. Her steely-eyes met the shinigami's face and it only took one look for the orange-haired maiden to get the message. "You can always go to the Soul Society after you're better!" A slight pout adorned Orihime's face. "You're health comes first!" _'Kurami-chan helped and possibly saved me and Sado-kun from those...arrancars. I, at least, want to help her recover!' _A determined look painted itself onto her face, stating that there was going to be no room for 'buts' or 'no' from Yume until she recovered.

"She's right Kurami-san. Just rest until you've recovered enough to the point where you can move around! You can stay at my store until then, so just stay put." Urahara flashed a smile before once again fanning his face. "You should be fine by the end of tomorrow." He added, reassuring the 7th seat.

"Ah..." Yume dragged out the sound, making it seem like a nervous sigh. "Th-Thank you for having me here..." Pale hands clutched the black fabric of her shihakusho. She looked down and noticed the crimson substance sticking to her hands. Looking, Yume just noticed the bloody red that covered the black material all over her uniform.

Almost as if she read the black-haired girl's thoughts, Yoruichi stated ,"There's a hot spring below. C'mon, I'll join ya." There was a hint of mischief in the ex-captain's voice as she picked up the injured shinigami.

"W-What are you doing!?" Yume yelped out, concern for what was going to happen to her soon. Her hands clutched onto the orange fabric in hopes of not falling.

"Haha! Don't worry, I won't drop ya." Using shunpo, the dark-skinned woman appeared before the steaming hot spring.

Yume watched as the steam rose up and disappeared only to be replaced by even more of the ashy substance. "U-Umm..." She looked down at the dark water, already feeling the heat on her skin through the kimono. Although, the black-haired girl couldn't help but _want _to get into the water and soak to let the dried blood wash away along with any worries, even if it was for a short time.

Xxx

Toshiro let out a tired sigh. His turquoise eyes stared aimlessly at the array of sweets, his thoughts focused else where. _'Kurami...that girl...'_ Images of the thick layer of white bandages wrapped carefully around the girl and crimson stains along her shihakusho flashed throughout the Captain's mind. Even if the time the girl was in the 10th division was short, she had grown to be an important and valuable member. Her undying will to help her Captain in any way possible and even do Matsumoto's paperwork on top of her own was a trait that Toshiro found liking even more day by day. The 7th seat was also kind and quiet, usually only speaking when spoken too. He even had a few pleasant conversations with Kurami. All in all, she was a great subordinate that had an enjoyable presence.

The white-haired Captain pinched the bridge of his nose and let out another sigh. Kurami was filling his thoughts more than a normal subordinate should be. Was she not just a normal member to him? _'Ugh...I've had enough of these thoughts...Didn't Urahara mention a hot spring in his underground training grounds?' _The hot spring sounded nice right about now. Toshiro didn't like taking breaks when he was on missions however. The arrancars were making their move under Aizen's command and he must keep his guard up in case of another arrancar appearance. He _would not _be in a bath relaxing if an attack occurred. No. That would be a huge blow to his pride. Determined to be on guard for any sightings of arrancar, Toshiro dismissed the thoughts.

Xxx

Yume let out a happy sigh. The warm bath was like a heaven. Her body was cleansed from any dried blood and dirt, her shihakusho, however, was still drying. She looked at her shoulder and sighed once more, except this time it was one that stated a hidden message 'again'. There was a large scar marring her creamy skin.

"Shihoin-chan...how long was I asleep?" Yoruichi looked over at the girl, her ebony locks clinging to her skin as she dried herself.

"Hmm...2 days...Now that you mention it, even with Orihime's healing, your wounds shouldn't have been healed to such an extent so soon." Golden eyes narrowed at down at the 7th seat, waiting for an answer.

"I don't know why I heal so quickly...Guess its something like a gift of mine." Yume laughed dryly as the fluffy white towel soaked up the liquid dripping down her hair.

Golden eyes softened at the answer. Yoruichi decided not to push the topic after noticing how uncomfortable it made the 7th seat feel. She grabbed another towel and started drying herself.

Yume looked at the wet towel in her hands, her mind still focused on her strange recovering abilities. Even in the past, back when she was just a small child, everything healed quickly. Scrapes, cuts, you name it. Even if it did prove to be useful, Yume didn't like it. It made her _different, _it made her _strange_. And she didn't like it one bit.

She looked up when the sound of heavy footsteps came towards the room, and it was coming quickly. Before she could even react, the door leading the the changing room bursted open, revealing a certain white-haired Captain.

"Kurami!-" Toshiro froze when he took in the sight in front of him. Kurami was sitting on a wooden chair, a white towel wrapped around her body. But that didn't hide her wet ebony hair and the light made her wet skin glisten. Blood rushed the the Captain's face, his mouth agape, looking very much like a fish. He tried to form words but nothing came out of his mouth. "U-Ummm..." Toshiro wanted to find the 7th seat to see how her wounds were faring. His mind kept thinking of the bandages that wrapped her shoulder and stomach until he had enough and decided to check up on Kurami. Now that he found her- from locating her reiatsu-, he was utterly stunned.

"C-CAPTAIN!" Yume's eyes widened at her Captain bursting into the room, a blush creeping it's way onto her face. Her heart was pounding, and she was sure it was loud enough for everybody in the whole building to hear. Before she could truly think of anything, she screamed out ,"D-DON'T JUST STAND THERE AND LOOK, BAKA!" She grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be a bucket of water, and threw it with surprising force at the gaping Captain.

Cold water spilled all over Toshiro's body, and then he felt a force push him out of the doorway, a loud slam following right after. He blinked several times, trying to process the events that just unfolded. His turquoise eyes were wide with disbelief, his mouth still open, and his entire form was soaked. He just stood in front of the door.

A minute passed and then Toshiro was back to reality. A scowl painted his face and he face-palmed himself, the red blush still tinting his face, before rushing off to a room to dry himself.

Xxx

_'WHAT DID I JUST DO TO THE CAPTAIN. OH MY SPIRIT KING.' _A torrent of thoughts flooded Yume's mind making it a giant jumble. "Shihoin-chan...did that just happen?" Yume muttered, her eyes wide from shock, her hands barely holding onto the towel.

A giant laughter erupted from Yoruichi from the girl's question and what had just happened. "HAHAHA! That was priceless!" She continued laughing, wiping tears from the corners of her eyes, earning a poor atempt of a glare from Yume.

"D-Don't laugh! It's going to be really awkward between us now!" The 7th seat covered her face with her towel.

Yoruichi snickered at the sight. "And what's so bad about that?" The dark-skinned woman took deep breaths after her whole laughing fit.

"As a 7th seat, I want to have a good relationship with my Captain! This awkwardness is going to just- ooohh..." Yume dragged out the last noise like a whine, her mind running through all the possible ways to eliminate the awkwardness between her and her Captain.

Yoruichi just continued laughing. _'I need to watch the confrontation' _She made a mental note as she put on her clothes, a devious smile spread across her face.

Xxx

Yume walked out into the open air in front of the candy store, with the help of Orihime since the 7th seat still couldn't walk correctly. She wore a plain light blue kimono that mirrored the sky, her long jet black hair tied into a ponytail that laid on her shoulder. Her bare feet made soft thumps on the store's wooden floor before both girls reached the outside. "Thanks for helping me get out Inoue-chan...I just wanted to get some fresh air..." Yume smiled at the orange-haired maiden beside her, who in turn smiled back.

"No problem Kurami-chan! I also wanted to thank you for saving me and Sado-kun." Orihime replied with her light voice that always held kindness. The girl bowed slightly in appreciation toward Yume, who was slightly embarrassed at the action.

She took in a deep breath, enjoying the smell of fresh air. Yume sat down on the steps, her eyes focused on the floating clouds and the blue of the sky above. Her eyes softened at the sight. "You know...Inoue-chan..."

Orihime looked beside herself at the entranced shinigami. "Yes?"

"The sky...it's..."Yume suddenly stiffened and sat straight up, realizing what she was about to say. "Um...It's nothing. Can you help me back inside?"

The orange-haired girl raised a brow quizzically at the black-haired shinigami before escorting her back inside and onto her futon. "I have to go and buy some stuff. Maybe when you're better we can go shopping together!" Orihime beamed and then walked away, humming an unknown tune to herself.

Once the maiden was gone, Yume looked down at the soft folds of her futon, her mouth drawn into a thin line and her eyes clouded.

"Kurami." Said shinigami slightly jumped and looked over at the sliding door that was open. Her eyes widened at the sight of her Captain.

"Captain Hitsugaya..."Yume cleared her throat and looked back down at the futon, her hands clutching the blue fabric of her kimono. Her face immediately reddened when her thoughts reeled towards the event that took place an hour ago. "H-How are you doing?" She stuttered out, mentally slapping herself at her horrible attempt at clearing the awkwardness.

"I...I didn't see anything." Yume looked up at her Captain who was facing away, a red tint painting his face. Yume blinked a few times before bursting into laughter. She was laughing so hard, her back began to ache from her injuries.

Toshiro glared at the laughing 7th seat. "Why are you laughing?!"

"I-I apologize C-Captain, its just that-AHAHAHA!" The girl clutched at her stomach before wiping a few tears from the corners of her eyes and then erupting into laughter _again. _

The Captain gave an annoyed sigh, his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose. _'Great, she's completely lost it.' _

"Ahahaha...sorry Captain." Yume calmed down from her laughing, taking deep breaths to regain her composure. "It's just that I never would've expected that you of all people would say that. I was worried for nothing! Oh thank Spirit King. You never really struck me as that kind of person..." A grin was plastered on the 7th seats face. She was expecting her Captain to yell at her for throwing a water bucket at him but instead, he blushed and said 'I didn't see anything.' It just didn't seem like his usual aloof and stoic self. His tinted face combined with his small form and the fact that he was the 'Ice-cold Captain of the 10th division' was something that Yume couldn't help but start laughing.

Toshiro just stared at Yume. _'She was laughing at something like that? Should I be insulted or something?_' He just huffed at his 7th seat's strange sense of humor. "And why wouldn't I say something like that?"

Yume was about to respond until a sudden weight stopped her from even speaking. Her eyes widened in surprise.

The white-haired Captain frowned and pulled out a candy dispenser, quickly taking a piece of the 'candy' and popping it into his mouth. He separated from his gigai and quickly instructed it to watch over the 7th seat and make sure she stays ok. "Kurami, stay here."

The 7th seat frowned at her Captain's words. "Captain please! Allow me to accompany you!" Her voice was pleading as she stood up before flinching and falling back down onto her futon.

"What are you talking about?! You can't even stand!" Toshiro bit back harder than he intended it to sound.

"You're under a restriction though, you'll only be able to use 20% of your power! Please Captain...I don't want to sit back here knowing that you'll be gravely wounded!" Yume's voice was filled with conviction and determination to help her Captain.

Turquoise eyes glared momentarily at the stubborn black-haired girl before softening slightly. "Kurami...Please, I'll be fine. I'm your captain and I will not allow you to go out and die, understand!" Toshiro's voice rose with every word.

Yume stared at Captain Hitsugaya, absolutely speechless. _'He's...worried about me...'_ She looked back down at her futon before muttering out, "Stay safe...and come back in one piece...and if you don't I'll personally bring you back just to smack you." She glared -although it was a poor attempt at one- at the Captain, as if she was making her threat of bringing Toshiro back to life just to smack him around seem serious.

Toshiro gave an amused smile before flash-stepping toward the reiatsu.

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Woah. Hope it wasn't too OOC. That's like my number 1 worry! I didn't really know how to piece together the ending so I just went with that. Hope it wasn't too bad! Anyways, again, sorry that it took me a while to post this. Know it's pretty short but...yeah. Anyways, Ciao~


	6. Chapter 6

Back for chapter 6~ Last chapter, after rereading it after posting it (I just work that way) I noticed so many mistakes and fixed as many of them! So if you got an update and was expecting a new chapter, sorry for disappointing ya! This update is a new chapter though, obviously. Hope you all enjoy the chapter! Now onwards to chapter 6! Right after this:

Thanks **Hylla **for taking your time to review! Glad to see a new reviewer among the readers c; You're reviews made my day along with all the others, so yeah. Hope I didn't keep ya waiting too long~

Disclaimer!I DUN OWN NUTTING EXCEPT FOR MEH OC'S

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ch.6

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Yume drummed her fingers on the soft material of her futon, anxiety clouding her thoughts. _'Oh, I wish I was out there to help Captain! What if he gets hurt! What if he loses a limb!? WHAT IF-' _She flopped back down on the cushioning before getting up again and then repeating the process once again. And again.

"Those are some really weird sit-ups you're doing Kurami-chan." Yoruichi walked into the room, her usual smile plastered on her face.

"Haha...I guess to another person it would seem like I'm doing sit-ups..." Yume muttered out blankly, her thoughts still focused on her Captain. She attempted to smile, but was only able to muster out one that would make anybody sad-looking at her. "Ne...Shihoin-chan...I'm worried..."

Yoruichi perked an eyebrow before realization donned on her. "About you're Captain. Why so? He's a strong and capable shinigami, he can fend for himself." The dark-skinned woman perched herself beside the 7th seat, her eyes glinting with mild interest.

"I'm scared." Yume stressed the last word. "I'm _scared, _scared that it'll be my fault... " She involuntarily shivered and clutched at her sides to somewhat comfort herself. "It'll be my fault...again..." Even though Yoruichi was in the room, it felt as though she was talking to herself, as if she was trying to reassure herself.

"What? What are you talking about?" Yoruichi began to feel concern for the shinigami.

Yume blinked a few times before turning her head around to meet the purple-haired woman. "What..." the 7th seat looked down at her futon and then back up to Yoruichi making her raise an eyebrow. "Wait what!?" She looked as if she had just seen a ghost, which was slightly ironic.

Chuckling could be heard from Yoruichi as she took in what Yume was doing, all concern for her getting thrown out the window. _'She's just slightly odd is all.'_ A mischievous grin made its way across the former Captain's face. "I think you need some food in your system Kurami-chan. Orihime brought some food earlier and asked me to give you some if you ever got hungry."

The black-haired shinigami beamed at the thought of Orihime's food, believing it would be a taste from heaven. "Please." Yume could feel her mouth-watering from the thought.

"Sure, just wait here." Yoruichi stood up and made her way to the kitchen. When she was sure Yume couldn't see her anymore, her lips curved down into a frown and her eyes took on a serious expression. Her head turned towards the fighting that was undoubtedly happening. _'What's going on out there...'_ She slightly grimaced after remembering her left arm and leg.

The dark-skinned woman grabbed the lavender bento that was sitting on a wooden table and walked back into the room. She immediately froze at the sight of an empty messy futon and nearly dropped the bento. "Kurami?!"

Xxx

Yume flash-stepped across rooftops, her mind was in a frenzy. She felt the sudden drop of her Captain's reiatsu and the dramatic increase of what seemed to be an arrancar. She was sure of it. Her heart was beating so quickly, she thought it would burst from her chest. _'No...I won't let it happen, not again!' _Her hands grasped the black and grey hilt of her zanpakuto. She knew that she would have to release it in front of her Captain, and he'll know that she _lied._

Toshiro spat out some blood, his grip on his zanpakuto slightly shaking from the large amount of blood loss. His eyes narrowed down at the large gash in his stomach, blood seeping out from it. He looked back up at the arrancar before himself. The large thin white claws coated with his blood, rivulets of it dripping down to the ground far below them. "Come on...I can't keep this up much longer." His hold tightened as he steeled himself for another attack.

Shawlong flexed his claws before using sonido to suddenly appear in front of the Captain, his lips drawn into a thin line. "I bear my greatest respects for you, little Captain." He was about to swing, however, a sudden black beam came out of no where, causing him to jump back. He narrowed his eyes towards the intruder.

The white-haired Captain's eyes widened, recognizing the reiatsu. He looked down at his 7th seat, a pure black sword held out and pointed at Shawlong. "Kurami!? What are you doing here!?_"_ His voice was fueled with worry and confusion at her sudden appearance. _'No, No, NO! She's going to get herself killed!' _

"I'm sorry for disobeying orders Captain Hitsugaya, however, I cannot stand by and watch as you get you're self killed!" Yume held her zanpakuto up, both of her hands grasping the jet-black hilt.

"Speak for your self! You're going to get yourself killed for coming out here!" Toshiro snapped back, trying to urge the 7th seat to retreat.

"Oh, so you two know each other? I assume that you both are accomplices. Unfortunately, this will only add another death to the result. I apologize for ending this rather quickly even though you just arrived here." Shawlong stated with a hint of amusement in his voice. He quickly used sonido to close the gap between him and Yume, a small smirk plastered on his face.

Turquoise eyes widened in realization at what was about to happen. "Kurami!" Toshiro yelled out in desperation, he knew he wouldn't be able to flash-step to her in time to protect her in his current state. "Shit!" He cursed under his breath. Why couldn't the approval for the seal removal come faster? He needed it _now_.

"Goodbye, Shinigami." The arrancar mused as he swung his claws down at the 7th seat. Much to his surprise, his thin white claws met with the pure black of Yume's zanpakuto, her mouth drawn into an unamused line. Sparks flew as the two weapons clashed with each other.

Yume let our rasped breaths from the quick exchanges between her and the arrancar. "Sakebu!" She pointed Shi Hanketsu toward the arrancar and watched as a silent black beam erupted from the tip of her zanpakuto, heading straight towards Shawlong. He used sonido to escape and brought his claws up to defend against the 7th seat. She pushed her zanpakuto harder onto the white claws, holding them down with her zanpakuto. "Captain!" Yume yelled out, signaling for him to attack.

It took a few seconds for Toshiro to grasp what was happening before rushing towards Shawlong, hyourinmaru drawn back. He slashed down, only meeting air. He looked to the side, noticing that Yume was already tired. _'This fool...Getting into a fight when she's already injured.' _Although, the Captain had to admit that without her help, he would probably have even more injuries spread across his body.

Toshiro looked back at Shawlong, bringing his zanpakuto up into a defensive position when he saw the arrancar bring his claws up. However, he saw the flicker of his eyes being drawn to the 7th seat beside himself.

Yume saw how Shawlong briefly glanced at her and held her zanpakuto up, mirroring the Captain. She gritted her teeth when long white claws pushed her back and held her down with a heavy force. The 7th seat held her own for a few seconds before a tugging from the back of her mind distracted her. _'No, Not Now!' _The tugging grew stronger and stronger, her mind becoming clouded with pain from the sudden force in her mind, a pounding pain resonating within.

Toshiro's eyes widened when he saw Yume teeter back, Shawlong using this as an opportunity to strike. Blood gushed out of the large long gash that reached from her injured shoulder all the way to her hip in a diagonal line. "Kurami! No!" He watched as she clutched at her wound, blood seeping out from her mouth.

"Captain! Renji! Gentei Kaijo has been approved! Go full power!" The familiar voice of his lieutenant brought the Captain to his senses, and he took no time in removing the seal.

Yume watched with half-lidded eyes as her Captain's reiatsu spiked upwards, a faint relieved smile gracing her bloodied lips as she clutched at her wounds and head. She watched as Toshiro lifted his sword and immediately impaled Shawlong, ice exploding outwards, trapping the arrancar and putting him to death. The ice began to crack and shatter, a storm of small ice shards glistening in the moonlight. And to the injured 7th seat, it was beautiful.

The black-haired shinigami flash-stepped toward her Captain, catching him as he fell, his ice wings shattering, blood caking his body. She landed sloppily on the rooftop near Rangiku and laid him down before collapsing onto the floor herself, her mind registering the desperate voice of the strawberry-blonde woman yelling for Orihime.

Xxx

Turquoise eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the light and colors filling his vision. Toshiro groaned from the light pounding in his head as he sat up with the help of his arm. He scanned the room around him, noticing that he was in Urahara's store laying on a futon. Feeling the soft rustling beside him, the aching Captain turned his head and his eyes widened momentarily in shock.

Ebony bangs covering her face even more so than usual, there sat his 7th seat in all her glory, bandages and all. Her lips were drawn into a thin frown, the aura around her hinting towards sadness. Her hands were held together on her lap, she was wearing the usual black shihakusho.

Clearing his throat, Toshiro muttered out loud enough for the girl to hear. "Kurami..."

Yume immediately looked up at the mention of her name, eyes widening at the sight of her awoken Captain. "Captain Hitsugaya!" The girl was so lost in her thoughts she didn't even notice him waking up. "How are you feeling? Do you need me to call for Inoue-chan? Is there anything wrong?" The 7th seat continued to berate Toshiro before he groaned once again and shot the girl a glare telling her to be quiet.

"I'm fine..." Toshiro softened his gaze and slouched over. _'How long has she been there?' _He assumed that she had sat there for quite a while considering the noticeable dark circles below her eyes and thinner cheeks. "How are your wounds?"

The 7th seat blinked a few times before answering. "A lot better than yours." She replied sarcastically before adding, "You've been out for 3 days Captain! You had me going through so many worst case scenarios!" Yume replied, a playful tone taking over her somber one. A small smirk found its way onto her face. "Are you sure you're really ok? You were really banged up there."

A smile tugged at Toshiro's lips. "I'm _fine_. Geez, believe in me more won't you. I already have Hinamori worrying about me, I don't need another one."

"I'm just looking out for ya Captain! Geez, accept some help a little more often won't you." Yume smiled back at him, relieved that he seemed to be doing a lot better. He, at the very least, was no longer a sleeping log that wouldn't wake up.

"And you should learn to follow orders. I would've never thought that you of all people would disobey them." Toshiro questioned with a raised brow, hinting towards the fact that he wont reprimand her for her actions.

Yume laughed awkwardly. "I was hoping you would've forgotten all about that Captain...Ahahaha..." She twiddled with her fingers a bit at the sight of her Captain's expectant eyes, telling her that he won't let her go until she answers. Sighing in defeat, the black-haired shinigami gave in. "I refuse to do nothing while knowing that you're near death." Her expression hardened. "I won't let another person die when I could do something about it." Her voice was full of conviction, as if she was speaking to herself rather than the Captain in front of her.

Toshiro just sat there silently, taking in what the 7th seat had just said. And then he saw something that made him genuinely concerned. She was _shivering. _"Kurami are you alright?" He reluctantly put his hand on her uninjured shoulder in trying to comfort her.

The black-haired shinigami clutched at her shihakusho tightly before realizing that the Captain had just asked if she was alright. Immediately straightening her posture and taking deep breaths to calm herself, Yume gave another awkward laugh. "Haha...yeah. Sorry about that. It was just that I was remembering some...things." She muttered the last part under her breath. However, Toshiro saw how her body tensed at the last part.

"Talking about it always helps..."The white-haired Captain stated rather awkwardly. Yume shot her head back up towards what her Captain was suggesting, shock clearly etched across her features. Toshiro cleared his throat before adding "I know that I'm not really somebody you would talk to about these kind of things" He stopped when he saw a small smile gracing the ebony-haired girl's face, replacing the shocked ones.

"No, it's alright Captain." Yume didn't know why she was telling her _Captain _of all people about this. There was just something about him that made her feel like telling him would be the _right _thing to do.

Taking a deep breath, Yume began. "I let somebody dear to me die." She remembered the day like it was just yesterday. Clear and vivid. It was still as painful as the day it actually happened.

"_Yume!" A cheery voice interrupted a certain black-haired girl's thoughts. She looked up and saw her best friend walking towards her in the standard academy uniform, papers held tightly in his hands._

"_Haru-kun...What are you doing here?" Yume asked questioningly, her arms folded over her chest._

"_I came to get ya silly." He ruffled her ebony locks. "Look at you standing here, arms folded and all. But you're still a kid." Haru leaned down and flicked Yume's forehead, earning him a deadly glare. _

"_I am **not **a kid. I'm just a year younger than you!" The fellow student retorted, smacking the older student's hand away. "And where are we going?" Yume returned her arms into its folded state, resting it over her chest once again._

_The much taller student grinned, his long spiky golden hair tied up in its usual pony tail, his eyes resembling spring grass. "On a mission of course! Old man Yamamoto selected a group of students to go hollow huntin'!" Haru's grin spread even wider. _

_Yume's eyes widened at the statement. "Wait WHAT!? But we're just acadamy students! How could he assign that to us?" A quizzical look was plastered on the younger student's face before it scrunched up in anger. "AND IT'S HEAD CAPTAIN YAMAMOTO TO YOU" She added, an accusing finger pointed straight at Haru._

"_Yeah, yeah, whatever. It's just really easy hollows. Ya know, ones that'll die with just a flick of the finger." Haru shrugged. "We're leaving in an hour. C'mon slow poke, let's go." He handed the completely confused Yume a piece of paper that gave all the information about the mission. _

"_Wait an **hour**?! Why didn't you tell me sooner!?" Yume yelled out, her mouth pulled into a scowl. _

_Haru's grin faltered for a moment before he scratched the back of his head. "I forgot." _

"_HARU YOU IDIOT."_

_xx_

_Yume flash-stepped quickly toward the area specified, four other students following right behind her in pursuit. She quickly stopped in her tracks and pulled out her sword. "Get ready!" _

_Several hollows began to crawl out of their hiding spot, howling in glee at the thought of dinner. "Woohoo! Here we go!" Haru rushed out and quickly slashed two hollows with his sword, their masks cracking and disappearing along with their bodies. _

"_Haru, don't just rush out there!" Yume scolded. It was always like this. The older student would go rushing out into the action with no plan whatsoever, swinging his sword around like it was some sort of game. _

"_C'mon, you're all missing out on the fun!" The other students began to attack the hollows, Yume included. _

_It took a few hours to rid of the hollows, but with the task done, the five students began to walk back to the Seireitei. "Whew...I'm beat." Haru yawned, his hands laced behind his head._

"_That because you just went rushing into the action like the absolute idiot you are." Yume retorted, earning a few laughs from the other students._

"_Aw, don't be like that Dreamy-chan! When we get back, I'll buy you some amanatto." Haru laughed out, ruffling Yume's hair once again. _

"_Don't call me that!" She slapped the older student's hand away before quickly adding. "You better remember to buy me some..." _

_The entire group of students began to laugh to themselves until a heavy pressure stopped the playful atmosphere. Yume whipped her head back, eyes widening at the sight before them. A garganta ripped open the space, leading to a large black hole in the air. _

"_No way..." The black-haired student could feel her heartbeat increase at every single Menos Grande that crawled out of the garganta. One of the students began screaming, her terrified shrills attracting the attention of the large hollows. The student quickly began running away from the site, followed by another student. _

"_We have to get out of he-" Yume was interrupted by the howls of the Menos Grande. "Hurry!" She watched in horror as one of the students narrowly dodged a cero. Without looking back, she began flash-stepping away from the hollows as fast as she could, expecting that the other students were right behind her at the very least. _

_Yume froze, her eyes widening once again. She watched as the other students flashed ahead of her, all the other students except **Haru**. "HARU!?" She whipped her head back to only flash-step away from a cero. There stood a giant single Menos Grande that somehow was able to catch up to her. Yume scanned the area and saw the golden-haired student bring his sword down, leaving a large wound on the enormous hollow. "Haru what are you doing!? We have to get out of here!" _

"_Yeah well, I'm having a bit of trouble doing that." Haru panted out. Yume narrowed her eyes to his legs, seeing the blood drip down from it. 'He must of injured his leg!' "Don't worry Dreamy-chan, I can handle just one Menos Grande. Don't underestimate me." The older student yelled out, his sword held firm in his hands. "Get away from here Yume. I'll catch up to you afterwards."_

_Yume scoffed. "Look at your leg! You can't possibly catch up to me!" _

"_Yume, get out of here. I can handle this myself." Haru repeated, it was as if he was trying to reassure himself more than the younger student however. "I don't want you to die here just cause you wanted to stay for me. I promise that I'll get out of here alive. I have to get you some amanatto remember?" _

_The ebony-haired student just grimaced towards the older one before flash-stepping away from the scene. 'You better hold true to your words...baka.' She could feel the falling of Haru's reiatsu and her heart was pounding at her to go back and help him. _

_She let out a shaky breath after feeling the reiatsu of the Menos Grande disappear, Haru's still barely remaining. She couldn't keep going forwards anymore, her mind racing to get back to Haru, to help him, to scold him for being such an idiot. _

_When Haru's form began to appear in Yume's sight, a relieved smile painted itself onto her face. "Haru!" _

_A surprised look mixed with shock and horror filled the older student's expression. "Yume!? GET OUT OF HERE!" He yelled out, making the younger student jump. "Hurry!" _

"_Haru? What are you talking about?" Before she could get an answer, a loud creepy laugh resonated around the forest. Red filled her vision as crimson blood splattered itself onto her body. She looked down at Haru's fallen form, a large fresh gash on his back. "H-Haru..." Yume stepped back, tears beginning to form on her eyes. Then she felt it, the heavy reiatsu. It was suffocating her, destroying her mind. mustering up as much strength as she could, Yume looked up. Her heart stopped. A few feet away from Haru's form was a red hollow, smaller than the Menos Grande. "A-Adjuchas..." What was an adjuchas doing here!? Before Yume could do anything, it leapt onto her, its large hands choking her neck. _

_The last thing she could hear was its eerie chuckling, then she fainted._

Xxx

Toshiro stared wide-eyed at the 7th seat, processing all the information that she just revealed. It explained why she seemed so desperate to help him, and why she disobeyed orders. He watched as a single tear fell down onto her shihakusho, making the black fabric seem darker. "Kurami..." The Captain didn't know what to say- his social skills weren't exactly his strong point. So, he did the one thing that to mind.

He grabbed her back and brought her to him, bringing her down into what seemed like a hug. He brought one of his hands up to hold her head to his chest, the other holding her back. He could feel the 7th seat stiffen in his arms and the sudden hitch in her breath. Her ebony locks were silky and soft, and even though she was taller than him, she felt much smaller in his arms. She felt fragile. She was warm, and Toshiro found that he didn't really mind this warmth.

Yume was stunned. She could feel the steady cold of his breath against the tip of her ear and the rapid beating of his heart. Her widened eyes softened and her breathing returned to normal as she let herself relax in the arms of her Captain. It was comforting, _he _was comforting. The 7th seat found herself snuggling up to Toshiro, bringing herself closer to him. He didn't move away, instead, his hold on her tightened, and it felt reassuring. Like this was still reality and that it wasn't a dream. _'Captain has quite the special way of doing things'_ Yume thought to herself sleepily, her eyes beginning to close and a small smile forming on her lips.

Toshiro felt the steady breathing of the black-haired girl in his arms and her form leaning against his. He blinked a few times, realizing what was going on. _'Is...Is she sleeping?'_ Turquoise eyes looked down at the girl and he slightly shook her form. There was no response. He shook her again, except this time slightly harder. No response. He only heard the light breathing on his 7th seat, her warm breath tickling his chest. Crimson began to spread across Toshiro's face as he realized the predicament he was in.

Letting out a sigh, the Captain hoped that nobody would walk into the room. Or else he would never hear the end of it.

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That was an awkward way of ending things. The flashback was a bit too long for my tastes but hope it explains a few things. Didn't really know how to piece together the whole chapter this time but I think the product came out pretty good. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Ciao Ciao~


	7. Chapter 7

OK SO FIRST THINGS FIRST. I'm aware of the fact that Valentines day is here! Decided to post this on this special lovey dovey day. I made sure to add as many fluffy scenes as I could think of, although it might be a little cheesy. I don't really know how well I do on the romance aspect.

Do keep in mind that there will be a few serious parts in the chapter so that the story will continue forward. It won't be all fluff unfortunately! SO yeah, hope you all enjoy this chapter! Sky dive, into the flow of words!

DISCLAIMER: I DUN OWN ANYTHANG EXCEPT FOR MER OC'S

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Chapter 7

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"Ngh..." Turquoise eyes grudgingly opened accompanied by a muffled groan. It took a few seconds for the uniquely colored eyes to adjust to their surroundings and when they finally did, they met ebony shades. Narrowing down, the young Captain could see the gentle perk of a nose and small pink lips on pale creamy skin. For what seemed to be eternity, all he could hear was the soft, steady breathing coming from the pink lips. The sight before him was mesmerizing, enchanting even: the way the sun's rays hit the jet-black tresses, making it almost shine; the way her chest rose and fell with each soft breath. She looked so calm and serene, it was almost _contagious_.

Taking a deep breath and enjoying the faint aroma of lavender emanating from the lukewarm body, Toshiro closed his heavy eyelids before they shot open again, his mind registering what was going on. His mind reeled back towards the events that happened hours ago all fatigue vanishing instantly. His eyes focused on the sleeping girl before him, realizing that it was his 7th seat, and taking in the awkward position the two were in. One of his arms was put over on top of the girl, loosely hugging her towards his chest. The other arm was tucked beneath her neck, her head curved to look like she was being buried into the young Captain's neck. Both of the 7th seat's arms were hugged to her own chest, that was just a mere few inches away from his own, her silky locks loosely clinging to her lean frame.

Toshiro ran through all the possibilities and their pros and cons on how to get out of this mess. He could just simply wake the sleeping beauty but that would lead to an awkward situation. _Or _He could slowly and gently separate himself from Kurami and leave her sleeping on the futon. The latter was the most agreeable.

The young Captain moved his arms away from the 7th seat's sides, carefully making sure she wouldn't wake up. Toshiro let out a soft sigh of relief before lifting himself off the futon with as little noise as possible. Standing up, he could see Kurami's closed right-eyelid, her bangs falling onto her left covering it. The sun's beams seemed to brighten up the usually hidden eye and Toshiro didn't fail to notice the long full lashes that adorned them, and before he could become even more distracted he quietly walked away from the room, hoping that the girl wouldn't suddenly wake up.

Toshiro silently prayed that nobody saw the two of them sleeping.

Xxx

The white-haired Captain walked into the living room, in a gigai, to be greeted with his lieutenant, also in a gigai, and Orihime huddled together next to a wooden table. Matsumoto seemed to be whispering about something to the burnt orange haired human, her eyes lighting up in surprise and then a faint giggle escaping her lips. Toshiro could barely hear what the busty woman was saying, only catching little pieces of it such as "Adorable..." or "...surprising...right".

Deciding to make his presence known, Toshiro stated with his usual tone with a hint of questioning in it, "Matsumoto...What are you giggling about?"

Immediately, the strawberry-blonde beauty froze, her lips curved into a strange open smile. Rangiku slowly spun her head around to meet the sharp gaze of her Captain. "C-Captain! How are you feeling?" Toshiro didn't fail to notice the slight fumbling with her hands behind her back and how Orihime's eyes looked down and did some fumbling with her own hands.

Narrowing his icy turquoise eyes, the young Captain questioned the two suspicious females. "What's that behind your back?" He folded his hands in front of his chest.

"Nothing. Nothing important." Rangiku replied quickly with an innocent smile. A little too quickly in fact. And a little too innocent for the woman. Noticing the way the Captain's lips formed an even deeper frown, Rangiku added, "Isn't that right Orihime-chan?"

Orihime blinked a few times before replying with her own innocent smile, "Yes! You wouldn't want to waste your precious time with this." She turned her gaze to meet the still frowning Captain. "Are you alright now Hitsugaya-kun?"

"Yeah..." Toshiro replied, an icy layer to his tone. Deciding to take matters into his own hands, the young Captain briskly walked over to the two sitting females and searched for what they were fumbling with.

His eyes caught a picture flipped over on its back. Before either Rangiku or Orihime could do or say anything, Toshiro's hand shot out and grabbed the picture, flipping it over to see. Turquoise eyes blinked in surprise. The picture was just that of a small brown puppy with white spots dotting it's coat here and there.

Sighing in annoyance, Toshiro let the picture float back down to the ground, his frown still present.

"See, We told you so Captain!" Rangiku stated, her lips pulled into something like a pout, her body slightly jumping up to emphasize her words.

Toshiro looked down at his lieuatenant before his eyes once narrowed down at her chest. "What is that?" He pointed towards a thin white rectangular paper that was sticking out from the folds of the revealing woman's clothes.

Rangiku looked down and stiffened at the white substance. Looking back up at her Captain, she put on a smug expression. "What are you doing looking at my chest Captain! Oh you're such a perv!"

"Matsumoto..." Toshiro stated cooly, his frown deepening even more.

Thin frost began to spread across the wooden floor and the temperature dropped considerably. Rangiku shivered and instinctively hugged herself, causing the white paper to pop out of the folding and drift down onto the icy floor front-side up. The 10th division lieuatenant froze, an awkward smile plastered on her face as her mind ran through all the horrible things that her Captain was going to do to her. "Ahahahaha..."

Toshiro's eyes widened at the picture. There, clearly shown on the thin paper, was him and his 7th seat sleeping together in the same position he woke up in. His hand darted out and grasped the picture before freezing it completely solid. He crushed the paper in his hand, sparkly flakes escaping the small crevices.

"You both keep your mouths shut about this. Even to Kurami." His tone was icy and sharp, clearly stating that if the two let a word slip out of their mouths about this he would show them a cold hell. Rangiku and Orihime nodded in sync, their faces mixed with horror and understanding. "Matsumoto...hand over the other pictures." Toshiro held his hand out, his eyes expectant, a dangerous gleam in their unique colours.

When she didn't respond, ice began to spread across the floors near her sitting form, the temperature dropping even more. "EEP! Ok ok, fine Captain!" The strawberry-haired beauty waved her hands around in front of her before reaching into the same folds in her clothing and pulling out several pictures. And by several, he meant _several._ Toshiro quickly snatched the pictures from his lieautenant's grasps, earning a squeak of surprise from her, and froze them; crushing them just like the first picture.

Rangiku watched as the sparkly flakes that used to be the amazingly adorable pictures of her Captain and Yume sleeping together fall to the floor. A disappointed expression crossed her face. "WHY! They were so cute!" She banged her hands on the floor, her head down in sadness.

"Matsumoto..." Toshiro dragged out the name with an icy edge to his voice before walking out of the room, his lips frowning in annoyance, ignoring the lieutenant's comment on the picture being _cute_.

Xxx

Taking a deep breath to calm himself down, Toshiro noticed a faint sweet fragrance in the air. It wasn't like the candy sweet smell that usually lingered in Urahara Shoten; it was more sugary and soft. Following the enticing smell, the young Captain stepped out of the shop to stop in his tracks. Leaning against the walls of the shop was his 7th seat, an opened pack of amanatto in her hands.

Yume turned her gaze over to the white-haired Captain that just exited the shop, his uniquely colored eyes staring right back at her. "Captain, good morning." She mumbled out as cleanly as possible while chewing on the confectionery.

Noticing how the Captain's gaze turned toward the sweet treats in her hand, Yume held out the amanatto package, prompting for him to enjoy some. "Here, as thanks."

Toshiro's hand shot out to take some of the confectionery and popped one of them into his mouth, enjoying the sweet sensation that spread throughout his mouth. It was unlike any other amanatto the Captain had ever tasted. It was sweet, but not suffocatingly sweet, and it had a faint bitter undertone to it, making the sweeter part all the more better.

Swallowing the delicious sweet snack, Toshiro raised an eyebrow at the taller shinigami while rolling in between his fingers another one of the snack. "Thanks for what?"

"Listening to me...and making me feel better about the whole thing. After telling you, I really do feel a lot better." Yume replied beaming, her smile gracing her features. Even if the Captain didn't really say anything after she told him about the incident, he didn't mock her or insult her or anything like that. He conveyed his understanding and comfort through a simple hug, and the silence was welcomed. Albeit the 7th seat did fall asleep in his arms, she didn't wake up to find herself snoozing off next to her Captain, so she just assumed that he left her on his futon while he went off looking for another one.

A vague smile formed upon the young Captain's lips before they pulled back down into a frown. "You know the name of your zanpakuto." He stated blankly before adding with a more questioning tone. "And by the way you used it in the last fight, it seemed to me like you've known it for quite the while. Why did you lie?" Despite his fondness for the 7th seat, Toshiro didn't like being told lies. He was usually able to pick them out and immediately question the person but he wasn't able to do that this time.

Yume's smile shrunk as she realized what her superior had just asked her. "I was hoping you forgot all about that ahaha..."

"Sorry to say that I'm not one of the forgetful types." The young Captain stated sarcastically, his turquoise eyes narrowing.

"I...I'm not particularly fond of my zanpakuto. In fact, I kinda hate having to use it...So much so that I didn't want to be in a position where I had to use it as often. You really surprised me when you gave me the 7th seat." She laughed dryly as she rolled a piece of amanatto on her palm.

Toshiro thought of Shuuhei Hisagi when the taller shinigami stated her dislike towards her zanpakuto. _'Disliking it to the point of not even wanting to be given any responsibilities where it might need her to use it.' _His thoughts then reeled toward when he saw the pure black sword of her zanpakuto in her hands when she was assisting him in the fight against Shawlong. Toshiro couldn't help but give a small genuine smile before going back to the matter at hand. "Why?"

Yume clenched her hands before opening again, staring at the crushed sugary bits of the amanatto. "My zanpakuto...it's pretty much pure offence. Doesn't that seem likes its made for killing" She watched as the bits flew off of her palm, carried by the wind. "To exchange one life to save another...How wicked."

The young Captain remained silent, his eyes still trained on the tall shinigami before him. There the two of them stood, each looking at each other. "Captain, I'll be going back inside." Yume turned and went back inside the Urahara Shoten, slight amusement in her voice. Toshiro reverted his gaze back to his hand. There was no more amanatto.

A few minutes passed before the 10th division Captain decided to head back inside to report back to the Head Captain about the events. As he walked to an enclosed room, he heard the voices of Orihime, Rangiku, and Yume in the living room, giggles and all. Soon afterwards, there was the sound of a door sliding open and the slam of it being closed. Sighing, Toshiro hoped the three wouldn't get into any trouble.

Xxx

Toshiro walked out of the room having just talked to Head Captain Yamamoto and Momo, his hands up pinching the bridge of his nose. _'Momo...'_ It would be an understatement to say he was simply worried for the 5th division lieutenant. His mind played through the events that had just happened. Even after Aizen's betrayal of the Soul Society Momo still believed that the former Captain was a good man. A scowl formed on the young Captain's face, clearly aggravated by his childhood-friend's undying faith to her former Captain.

Toshiro sped up his pace off to who knows where before he crashed into something soft and warm, sending both of the two figures tumbling down.

"Oowww..." Yume groaned, lifting herself back up while rubbing the back of her head. "Watch where you're going Captain." Said Captain lifted himself up, the scowl still present on his face. Toshiro looked up at the black-haired shinigami, noticing that she was now in a gigai. She was wearing a white v-neck topped off by a pale blue cardigan. White shorts adorned her legs accompanied by also white stockings with black stripes that reached from her knees down. _'Matsumoto...'_ Toshiro growled the name in his mind, immediately knowing who planned the outfit out.

"Same could be said to you Kurami." The 7th seat was taken aback from the hostility that was being emitted from her Captain's voice. Why was he so mad from just a single run in?

A gasp caught both of the shinigami's attention, both heads turning to see Rangiku's frightened expression. "Y-Yume-chan! Captain! Look at what you did!" An exaggerated frown painted itself on to the busty lieutenant, her fingers pointing toward the ground.

Looking down, Yume's eyes widened at the paper bag lying on the floor and her hand darted out to grab it, scanning the insides. Her lips curved down at the sight as she gripped the bag with way too much force. "Captain..." Her tone held a rare icy edge. Pushing the paper bag on to the 10th division lieutenant behind her, Yume glared at her Captain, anger taking over her mind. "Thanks to you it's all wasted now!"

Toshiro's eyes twitched. "What?"

Rangiku blinked a few times, the gears in her head working before an exaggerated, sarcastic angry frown formed on her full lips. "Yeah! It took us forever to pick it out and you had to go and break it!" She put her hands on her hips, emphasizing her anger. "It was so expensive too..."

The young Captain's eyes twitched once again, his frown loosening and a confused expression crossing his face. "What?" He repeated.

"Me and Yume-chan were out shopping and she found something really really nice! And it turns out that really really nice thing was the thing that just broke because of you Captain! So, to compensate, go buy Yume-chan something!" Before either two could say anything, Rangiku pushed both of them out of the shop and slid the doors closed.

There was an awkward silence between the two, and much to Yume's surprise it was Toshiro that broke it. "C'mon..."

Yume blinked. It was now her turn to be confused."Wait what?"

Sighing in frustration and deciding to not waste anymore time, the 10th division Captain grabbed the 7th seat's pale hand with his own tanned one and began leading her. "C-Captain?" He said nothing and just continued walking, his hand still clutching Yume's own.

The two stopped inside a large 'mall', or so the human's call it. A mixture of shock and confusion spread across the black-haired shinigami's face. "Um...What are we doing here Captain?" She looked down at her Captain, noticing how annoyed he looked.

"Knowing Matsumoto, she won't let us back in until I get you something in return for ruining...whatever it was. Now hurry up and pick something out so we can get back." Toshiro stated as if it was the most obvious thing ever.

Yume was utterly stunned at this. _'The Captain...buying something for me? The Captain. Oh my Spirit King.' _She turned her gaze to the large windows, checking to see if pigs were flying. There were no flying pork chops. She returned her gaze back to the Captain. "Uhhh..." Yume looked very much like a fish out of water.

A vein popped upon the Captain's forehead. "Just pick anything you want!" Once again grabbing the 7th seat's hand, Toshiro led the reluctant girl around the mall in an effort to get this over with. "Look, clothes! Girl's like that right?" He pointed towards a boutique.

Yume took one look at the boutique before stating in a blank tone. "But it's not like I'll have any use for these clothes." She looked at her Captain like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Giving an annoyed sigh, Toshiro lead the girl to another store. This time, jewelry decorated it's displays, the gems shining brightly from the light. "There, jewelry. I'm sure you'll want something from here right?"

The taller shinigami just stared blankly at the store, confusion beginning to colour her face. "Jewelry gets in the way of fighting though! It'll be more of a hinderance than anything."

Another vein popped on to the Captain's forehead, his lips shaking from his barely contained frustration. Taking a deep breath, Toshiro tried to calm his nerves, his hands clenching and unclenching. "Ok then. What do you want?"

"Something that's useful and will last long." Yume replied quickly, slightly amused at her Captain's frustration that contrasts from his usual stoic form.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow at this before sighing once again. He began walking, his hand still holding on to Yume's. "Kurami-" He was cut off by a sudden gasp from the black-haired girl.

Letting go of her Captain's hand, Yume ran over to a window and her eyes began to sparkling, a large smile spread across her lips. There, sitting on a black pedestal, was a rather plain large ribbon hair tie that mirrored the colors of the sky.

The young Captain was completely perplexed by his 7th seat's interests. She refuses expensive clothing and shining jewelry, saying that it was utterly useless, but then she gets awe-struck by a simple ribbon? Deciding that the strange girl would be satisfied with this, Toshiro walked into the shop while Yume still stood by the window lost in her thoughts.

Yume frowned when she saw the ribbon get taken off the pedestal by a large hand, disappointed that she couldn't get her hands on it. Turning on her heel, all her sadness was immediately dispersed by the sight of her Captain holding a certain ribbon in his outstretched hand. The girl just stared at the outstretched hand, the ribbon's bands hanging from the sun-kissed fingers.

"Well, aren't you going to take it?" Toshiro grumbled out, slightly aggravated at what the shop keeper had told him when he went to pay for it. _'Buying it for your older sister? Ain't that sweet of ya kid!' _He was _not _buying it for his older sister, not like he had any, and he was most _definitely not _a kid.

Taking the ribbon without hesitation, Yume stroked the silky fabric with awe. She scanned the area before once again frowning. There were no mirrors that she could use so that she could put the hair tie on accurately. Looking back down at the waiting Captain, Yume grabbed his hands and pulled him over to a bench which she sat on, holding the ribbon out toward the Captain.

Toshiro raised a questioning brow. "What?"

"There's no mirrors around so...could you tie my hair up with the ribbon for me...please?" Yume muttered out, a red tint beginning to colour her face in embarrassment.

The young Captain blinked in surprise at the 7th seat's question. "W-What!? You can do that when you get back-" He stopped when he saw the sudden sad expression cross the black-haired girl's face, her lips were pulled downwards and her head slightly drooping. Giving in, Toshiro sighed before taking the ribbon from the pale fingers and lacing his own into the girl's soft ebony locks. He brushed the strands in a straight combing motion and then used the ribbon to tie up the girl's long hair in a normal ponytail. Toshiro stepped back and stared at her, his eyes taking in how she now looked. Even if pulling her hair into a ponytail didn't seem like that big of a difference, she looked...free. And Toshiro found that he quite liked it.

Feeling the wind tickle her neck, Yume looked back toward her Captain. A small genuine smile formed on her lips. "Thank you..." She touched her pulled back hair. "I think the ribbon is really...beautiful. And as a huge plus, it'll keep most of my hair out of the way when ever I'm fighting." She flashed her white-haired Captain a large innocent smile.

Toshiro didn't really know what to say. "We're even now. Let's hurry up and get back." Scratching the back of his head awkwardly, he began walking towards the exit, Yume right behind him.

Xxx

The two stepped out of the large building, Yume's face still bright with a smile. She looked around the vicinity before gasping at the sight to the right of her. She ran off, her eyes glimmering in excitement, leaving the confused Captain. Toshiro stared at the girl's shrinking form before running after her. "Oi, Kurami!?" _'What in the world is she doing?'_

Toshiro ran up several flights of concrete stairs, his eyes taking in the growing green trees. Reaching the top, the young Captain scanned the area for a certain black-haired girl. She was standing next to black metal railings, rust clear all over, her arms folded and resting upon the hard metal. Her eyes were staring straight ahead of her, a look of amazement gracing her features.

Genuinely interested in what she was gazing at, Toshiro walked over toward her form, standing right next to her and turning his head to see what the girl was getting so hyped up about. His uniquely colored turquoise eyes widened at the breathtaking view. A blur of several shades of orange, yellow, and red-painted the skies like a canvas, a bright and shining jewel in the middle. There were small twinkles spread across the colors, and it was absolutely beautiful.

The two stood there in silence, enjoying the sight in front of them, before Yume decided to speak up. "Captain...I really enjoyed today." Toshiro turned to look at the girl, noticing how she was now using her hands to support her head like a pedestal. "Thanks" Yume pulled out a small dark blue box from her sleeves, a white ribbon tied across it. She held the object toward her Captain, waiting for him to take it.

Raising a brow, Toshiro took the box and stared at it before pulling on the ribbon, watching how the gift naturally unwrapped itself. Turquoise met with a black box with a gray lid on top. Lifting the lid away, the young Captain's eyes widened once more. There was an assortment of chocolates shaped into different styles of snowflakes, a variety of creams and sugars sprinkled on top. There was a sweet and intoxicating aroma emanating from the sweets, pulling him in.

"Happy Valentines Day Captain." Yume gave the surprised Captain a gentle smile that looked sweeter than any of the chocolates in the small box. "It was my first time making chocolate so I hope it isn't too bad." The 7th seat let out a nervous laugh before continuing to stare at the white-haired shinigami, waiting for him to try a piece of the assorted sweet snowflakes.

Toshiro took no time in popping one of the chocolates in his mouth. It melted in his mouth, it's smooth texture filling the insides. It was sweet, very sweet, but at the same time it held that same slight undertone of bitterness that made the taste even better. The chocolate was like silk, it wasn't clunky or rough, no, it was like snow melting in his mouth, and it was divine.

A smile crept on to Toshiro's face. Nobody had ever given him something like this before. Sure he had gotten Valentine's Day chocolate but they were usually store-bought or poorly made, hinting to the fact that the people didn't spend much time in making them. The chocolate his 7th seat had given him showed that she spent time and effort in making the sweets, time and effort for _him_.

"So, what do you think?" There was a playful tone colouring her voice.

Toshiro found himself grinning at the girl. "You know that you're going to have to make me some more sweets later right?"

Yume laughed. "Sure Captain, whatever you say."

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I think I did pretty ok in this chapter. Tried to focus on progressing the two's relationship. Anyways, hope you all had an epic Valentines day! I know I did, I got some chocolate from my teacher. Haha, anyways, hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Ciao Ciao~


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Hmmm...I know it took a lot longer to update but I wanted to take my time in trying to make the chapters a lot better and enjoyable. That pretty much all I have to say. As usual, hope you all enjoy the chapter! Scroll down, into the texts of words!

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING EXCEPT FOR MAH OC'S

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ch.8

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"Captain!" Yume banged her palms on the table as she stood up from her seat, causing the small white plate to shake and threaten to crack. Her hair whipped around as she turned to glare at her calm Captain. His fingers were covered in sugary powder and his mouth was making chewing motions, the appropriate corresponding noises emanating from him.

A turquoise orb glanced to the left to meet shaking ebony bangs, occasionally catching a glimpse of crimson shades. Swallowing the sweet treat, Toshiro proceeded to grab a napkin to clean his fingers. "What?" His tone was deadpan, but to Yume's ears it sounded like a unknowing insult. Her hands clenched together on top of the table, her furious reiatsu barely concealed.

"Don't act like you didn't know what you just did" The 7th seat frowned at the uncaring expression on the young Captain's face, his demeanor indifferent and unchanging from Yume's outburst. Toshiro could feel a light, feathery touch ghosting over his back, creeping up towards his neck and ultimately making him feel slightly uncomfortable. He swiftly swiveled on his heel, expecting to see the person, or thing, causing him to feel the strange sensation. Meeting a distant wall, Toshiro was slightly confused before dismissing the touch, thinking that it was just his imagination; although he somewhat doubted it was his mind.

Yume blinked a few times, clearly confused at the Captain's bizarre behaviour, and began to debate if he was having a bad day and should be put to sleep. _'Maybe the wounds he sustained after fighting that arrancar haven't healed yet'_ She mused to herself before her thoughts quickly shifted to the extremely _important _matter at hand. Deciding that the Captain has taken enough time, which happened to be just a few seconds, she pointed toward the white plate on the wooden table. There were powdery flakes spread across the fragile object, barely noticable unless you were to look at it up-close. "You took the rest of my amanatto!"

Toshiro thought to himself for a few moments. He was attracted from the intoxicating sweet smell of the amanatto and without any real thought, he took the few remaining pieces of the confectionary for himself. He simply walked up to Yume, snatched the treats, and quickly ate them. "If you eat too many sweets you'll get fat so you should share some." The young Captain crossed his arms over his chest and stared into the 7th seat's unamused expression.

"You're one to talk Captain! Including, the amanatto I make aren't that sugary..." Yume sighed and grabbed the white plate, bringing it over to the sink. Not one to not take care of her responsibilities, she washed the plate completely clean and set it aside to dry. Leaning against the counter, she returned her Captain's gaze with her own. The two simply stared at each other until the black-haired one decided that the silence was becoming a bit too awkward for her tastes. She rummaged through her thoughts in trying to find something to talk about before her eyes slightly widened in realization in something. "Captain, where is Ichigo Kurosaki?"

Toshiro gazed blankly at the taller shinigami before he thought back to a few days ago. The substitute shinigami simply said that he was going somewhere to train and disappeared, and the Captain couldn't find a trace of his uncontrolled reiatsu anywhere. "He's out training."

"I...see" Yume mused to herself about the subject of training. Her injuries had, once again, healed at a rapid pace compared to other shinigami; although she was still slightly sore but that was beside the point. With this in mind, it surely wouldn't hurt to clash some swords and fire some kido to keep herself in shape. Deciding that this would be a nice and productive action to take, Yume briefly glanced at the white-haired Captain leaning against the counter beside her before making her way to the door. "I think I'll do the same, see you around Captain." The sound of doors being slid shut echoed softly throughout the room accompanied by ebony locks waving a silent goodbye.

Xxx

Her eye involuntarily twitched. How in the world did she get caught up in this situation. To the left of her sitting form was Rangiku and Yumichika Ayasegawa—5th seat of the 11th division— and to the right was Captain Hitsugaya and Ikkaku Madarame who was the 3rd seat of the 11th division. Just a few moments ago Yume was walking out of Urahara Shoten when Rangiku suddenly appeared out of nowhere and dragged the bewildered 7th seat to the grassy plain that all of them were sitting on now. Apparently they were planning on training for bankai and the busty leuitenant decided to bring practically all the shinigami that were assigned to the human world; aside from Renji Abarai who was currently training with Yasutora and Rukia Kuchiki who was training with Orihime.

She glanced from side to side, analyzing the concentrating shinigami. Rangiku and Yumichika seemed to be having some difficulties; although Yume wasn't particularly surprised considering their rather...unique personalities. Toshiro was completely composed and calm, as if talking to his zanpakuto was a walk in the park, which wasn't surprising. What was really surprising however was Ikkaku who seemed to also be having no trouble at all. And then there was the 7th seat, who was simply sitting down on the soft vegetation and staring blankly at anything that was in sight.

The black-haired shinigami sighed inwardly, her gaze lowering to the black and grey hilt of her zanpakuto. Gentle fingers pulled the sword out of the white obi and set it upon her lap. Yume ghosted her fingers across the dark sheath, her lips pulled into a small frown. Should she or should she not. The shinigami knew that her zanpakuto knew of her unwillingness to release it, to use it. But he also knew that her will to never allow the past to repeat itself was unwavering.

With shaky determination, Yume closed her eyes and her hands clasped onto the zanpakuto. She calmed her trembling body, her shoulders beginning to slump down into a calmer form. Her soft breaths grew steady; her mind clearing itself before focusing on the dwindling figure before her. Her eyes fluttered open, but this time she was sitting in an expanse of pale brown grass. There were no empty patches that revealed soil, no, it was all grass that looked as if it was withering. Several feet ahead was a single sakura tree, the pink petals slightly dim in color.

Yume looked up, taking in the breath-taking view above. The sky was a deep midnight blue, bright twinkles spread across. "Beautiful...isn't it" The baritone voice brought the crimson orbs onto the lone figure standing just a few feet away from the shinigami. Although the distance was short, Yume could barely see him, her eyes squinting in trying to change that. Her eyes widened at the sight of bright sapphire staring straight back. It was piercing, as if he could see past the ebony bangs and into the secrets hidden beneath them. Yume felt exposed and her hands shot up to cover her face.

"Don't look" Her voice was wavering and her tone soft. She sounded like a frightened child that was escaping from a mad murderer. "Please..." All composure left her body and she was back into her shivering form as if she was still staring at the black sheath of her zanpakuto.

Then she was pulled out of her mind and into reality by a ripping sound. "Arrancar!?" It took a few seconds for the word to register into Yume's muddled mind, and when it did her eyes snapped open; her body immediately shooting up into a standing place. "Isn't it way too soon" Her eyes darted towards Yumichika's shaking form, his hands clenched into tight fists.

"It is too soon...but we don't have the time to figure out the reason." The Captain's voice, despite his effort to sound calm, was strained and anybody could figure out that he wasn't liking the situation one bit. Yume's eyes travelled skyward to where the rest of the shinigami were staring at in disbelief. There were a total of four arrancar: one had shiny, short black hair and sleeves that drooped far past his hands, another was blonde and looked the other way, as if in a daze, the one standing farthest to the left had striking blue hair with a large scar on his chest. What was most surprising about this arrancar was the lack of his right arm. The biggest one of the group caused Yume to gasp in recognition. She could never forget his rather colorful hairs and large burly body. And his wicked smile, a smile that drew unneccessary thoughts into the 7th seat's mind.

"Oh, we ended up in a pretty nice place, didn't we. Quite the jackpot" Yammy grinned in excitement, his eyes narrowing down at shinigami beneath him. "After all, those guys have some high reiastu. This should be a good place to start" His arms folded in front of his chest.

"What? Those guys are shinigami" The smaller, black-haired one leaned forward lazily, his expression slightly bored. "They're the 'Reinforcements from the Soul Society' that Mr.6 was talking about, right?" Then his eyes turned toward the blue-haired one, a sleazy smile plastered on his round face. "Oh, sorry" His 'apology' was dripping with sarcasm. "I meant former Mr.6"

An annoyed scowl spread across his face, his eyes narrowing in frustration at the smirking smaller arrancar. "The bastard that I wanna kill isn't here" And without a second for any other to reply, he darted out toward the left, quickly disappearing out of eyesight.

The last thing Yume could hear was Yammy yelling out "That asshole" before the two began to talk in a level of volume that couldn't be picked up with her ears thanks to the distance and her still somewhat muddled mind. Soon, Yammy's head whipped toward the right. "Hey new guy, let's go" When all he received in response was a dazed and un-caring look, the large arrancar frowned in disapproval, muttering something about another freak joining them.

Toshiro slid his zanpakuto from it's sheath and glanced back toward the shinigami. "Let's go. Everyone be careful, these are arrancar and they should not be taken lightly. Kurami-" He cut himself off, knowing that it would be useless to even try to tell the 7th seat off, and the hard glare he received from her only strengthened that fact. It wasn't that he felt that she couldn't protect herself but it was that he was unsure of whether or not the taller shinigami could handle arrancar, especially since they could be Espada level. And uncertainty could become a fatal mistake. "...Assist Matsumoto" A relieved look crossed Yume's face before her expression hardened once again and she nodded in understanding.

Deciding that was his cue, Toshiro flash-stepped toward Yammy and brought down his zanpakuto in a swift strike, colliding with the arrancar's own sword with shards of ice flying into the air. "Hitsugaya Toshiro, Captain of squad 10" A stern look found its way onto the Captain's face as he muttered out his introduction.

On the other hand, Yammy smiled widely in amusement. "What a funny coincidence, I'm a ten too! Arrancar number 10, Yammy that is" He added even more pressure against the Captain's sword using his own, enjoying the fight.

The fight with Shawlong flashed in Toshiro's mind and the conversation about the numberings was pulled into thought. "tenth...are you an espada?" He pushed his zanpakuto against Yammy's in correspondence.

"Oho! You know quite a lot don't ya? Looks like you fought someone who doesn't know how to shut up" Yammy raised his sword swiftly, and with vicious intent, swung the blade in a horizontal movement, immediately being parried by the ice-cold zanpakuto along with the similar turquoise glare.

Yumichika and Ikkaku stood just a few feet away from the short arrancar with shiny ebony hair. "Are you...also an Espada?" The 3rd seat of the 11th division held Hozokimaru in one hand, the long handle resting upon his shoulder. Both of the 11th division members had a serious expression on their faces, although Ikkaku was extremely excited to finally have something good to fight. Hollows were much too weak for the fight-crazed shinigami. The 5th seat held Fuji Kujaku with both of his hands, it's four blades shining from the sun's rays.

"That's right, name's Luppi." His left hand popped out from the long sleeves and pulled down the white fabric surrounding his waist. "My rank is six" A large black '6' was revealed, the sharp points clear in the image. A smile spread across Luppi's face.

Rangiku, holding her zanpakuto in its sealed state with both hands, was completely confused at the blonde arrancar who was crouching down staring at the birds flying throughout the sky. "Is it...really okay for me to fight this guy?" Even though the arrancar was a major enemy to shinigami, the lieutenant just felt wrong for pointing her sword at this nonchalant arrancar that looked very much like a child.

Yume stared down toward the daydreaming arrancar and felt the grip on her zanpakuto slightly loosen. "Umm...Yes?" She was slightly bewildered by the fact that the arrancar was basically ignoring the two 10th division shinigami. His sword was strapped to his back and by the looks of it he wasn't going to be pulling it out anytime in the near future. _'Maybe this is just an act and he's just waiting for us to attack' _The grip on her zanpakuto tightened but her attention was pulled toward a loud crashing sound. Whipping her head toward the right, she watched as thousands of ice shards exploded into the air and quickly dissapaited.

"What the hell is this? It feels so cold and refreshing!" Yammy laughed out as he swung his arms and sword to destroy another ice dragon flying toward his way. Toshiro frowned as another dragon met the same fate as the others: becoming an explosion of ice shards that merely bounced off the arrancar's body. _'It really is useless without using Bankai, even if he's only tenth.' _The Captain swung his sword toward the large arrancar, another icy dragon erupting from the tip and surging forward at Yammy, its red beads gleaming viciously.

Blood dripped down Yumichika's forehead - narrowly missing the feathers attached to his eye - as he tried to bring himself up with his zanpakuto which was now in its sealed state. "See, you've got no chance of winning if you're gonna do one-on-one." Luppi stated, mockery colouring his tone. He looked over at Ikkaku who was simply standing a few yards away, his zanpakuto still resting on his shoulder. "Hey you, aren't you going to do anything? If not, I'll really kill him. Like, he'll be dead"

Ikkaku narrowed his eyes at the arrancar. "Two on one isn't my style"

Luppi shrugged. "Oh I see! That's so annoying and bothersome" His eyes darted to Yammy, a smirk forming on the 6th Espada's lips. "Hey Yammy! Give me that boy you're fighting. This is taking way to much time so..." Toshiro looked over at the short arrancar in shock. Rangiku and Yume mirrored his actions, they're eyes widening and confusion filling the pools. With a swift move, Luppi brought his hands up to grasp his sword that was being held in between his arm and body, pulling it out of the sheath slowly. "I'll just release and take you all on as a group, five-on-one. Yes yes, that'll save so much time" A playful tone filled his voice.

Turquoise orbs widened at remembering Shawlong's release: the drastic change in power was almost overwhelming. If it wasn't for his 7th seat's interference, the Captain would most likely still be considerably injured. Darting toward Luppi, sword pointed straight at the white cloth covering his chest, Toshiro sped up in hopes of stopping the arrancar. "Like I'll let you! Bankai" Blue ice began to encase his body, large wings expanding from his back and a long tail springing forth. The temperature immediately dropped and his reiatsu skyrocketed. "Daiguren Hyourinmaru" He was so close, he could see the shine of Luppi's entire sword.

Luppi smiled sadistically. "Strangle, Trepadora" He uttered the words so slowly, as if he was mocking the Captain. Purple-pink mist flowed out like a flood, pushing back Toshiro. He slashed through the strange mist, his face contorted in frustration. Immediately, a white vine-like whip shot out toward him, causing him to bring down his wings to cover him like a shield. "Hmm, I'm actually quite surprised. You Captain-class shinigami really are stronger than I had thought...but you know..." The arrancar dragged out the last word playfully. "What if that attack..." The mist began to cloud away, revealing the silhouette of Luppi. "Was multiplied by eight?" All eyes widened at the sight. There was a white shell attached to the arrancar's back that had eight holes in them, all eight having extremely long vine-like whips moving about in a frenzy.

"Captain!" Yume screamed out as the other seven whips darted toward the Captain, a maniacal laugh erupting from the Espada. Ice exploded from where the Captain was standing and the 7th seat watched as he fell down to the ground quite the distance away.

"That's why I said we should fight five-on-one" Luppi grinned. "Oh wait, sorry" Sarcasm pratically dripped from his voice as he licked his lips like he was a hungry lion staring at a defenceless deer. "I should have said five-on-eight huh. Woops, my bad" However, the arrancar's words were ignored by the 7th seat as she sprang forth and rushed toward where she saw her Captain fall. A whip quickly wrapped itself around her, squeezing her body to the point of pain. "Now what were you going to do? I don't like being ignored you know" Luppi glared at Yume, his eyes filled with annoyance and his tone deadpan.

Rangiku rushed forward, her zanpakuto pointed straight at the vine. "Yume-chan!" Just as quickly as she yelled out the name, another whip wrapped itself around the lieutenant.

"Rangiku-san!" Yumichika held his zanpakuto up but soon found himself entangled in one of Luppi's white whips.

"Yumichika!" Ikkaku looked around at his comrades, hozokimaru brought up in a defensive position. But just like the rest, he was also squeezed shut by a whip. He struggled fruitlessly in the entanglement, trying anything to get his way out of the vice-like grip.

All eyes centered on Luppi. The arrancar was laughing like a madman out on a killing spree; he was enjoying the panicking shinigami wriggling in the tight hold of his vines. The look of helplessness of their face was like a piece of heaven for the sadistic arrancar. "Look at all of you shinigami, pathetic! Are you guys really seated officers? If so, I'm a bit disappointed." A bored look crossed his face as he brought his sleeves up to his mouth in an innocent gesture before his lips curved up into a large smirk.

Yume glared at the 6th Espada, her eyes smoldering. "Repent for your sins, Shi Hanketsu" Her words were said under her breath but the arrancar could still hear them. All eyes were on her when she let out a loud gasp from the pain of the vines tightening their grip on her.

"Now now what are you doing? Calling for your zanpakuto? Like that's gonna help, you can't even reach your sword, stupid." Luppi frowned dramatically before his smirk returned to his face as he continued to squeeze the 7th seat.

Yume refused to let out anymore noises but her face was all people needed to know that she was in extreme pain. Her body felt like it was being crushed, her bones nearing their breaking point. But all the black-haired shinigami could think about was concentrating on the task at hand. _'Just...Just a bit more time...!' _She could barely feel her legs anymore as her blood stopped circulating in the area. Her eyes squeezed shut but then she felt all the pressure leave her body as the grip disappeared in a mere second. She let out heavy breaths as she opened her eyes to stare up at the bewildered arrancar who was staring at the vine that was now cut in half.

"What?" Luppi stared in shock at the shinigami before his purple eyes narrowed at the black mist surrounding her panting form. "What is that" His voice held no enjoyment or amusement, no, now it held a dangerous and venomous tone. He watched as some of the black mist separated from its clusters and began to gather around the shinigami's outstretched hand. It formed a hazy form of a katana before it solidified and peeled away, showing a jet-black sword with no shine. The hilt was pure black and the guard looked like black butterfly wings.

The other shinigami stared in utter confusion and surprise at what had just happened.

"Sairento Hoyo" Yume muttered out the words in a deadpan tone, her eyes displaying clear malice toward the arrancar. Within a millisecond, the haze surrounding the 7th seat dispersed into different directions. Luppi's eyes widened when he felt several large jolts of pain coming from the whips gripping the other shinigami. His eyes darted in different directions, staring in bewilderment at his now sliced away vines and the free shinigami who were breathing heavily, relishing their new-found freedom. Then, he saw it. There were four guardless, jet-black swords floating near the freed shinigami. He watched in confusion as the swords separated back into the hazy particles and flew towards the black-haired shinigami. "My zanpakuto...has no real shape" Yume captured the attention of the Espada, his eyes narrowing down into a furious gaze.

Luppi glared furiously at the shinigami before his face lit up in mockery. "Well I'm sorry to say this but..." He looked up at his vines that were in a frenzy. "I can always get them to regrow" A wide smile spread across his face as the sliced vines regrew their missing parts with high-speed. "And then..."Yume held up her zapakuto in defence, as did the other shinigami. Their eyes widened when sharp, large spikes popped out of all the wriggling vines and were immediately pointed towards each shinigami. "I'll poke tons and tons of holes in all of you" The arrancar laughed once again, the sounds echoing throughout each shinigami's minds. The spiked-vines shot forward swiftly, each with the malicious intent of puncturing them to death.

Suddenly, ice formed and encased the vines in a matter of seconds, stopping them in their tracks. "You shouldn't think that with one attack you should relax and think that I'm dead. Haven't you ever heard of following through?" Yume's head whipped around to the side, her crimson orbs widening at the sight. Standing in all his glory with her Captain, his wings fully repaired and his sword held steady in his hands. "Hyourinmaru is the most powerful ice-based zanpakuto. As long as there's water nearby it can always repair itself..." A bright light began to shine around the arrancar, his purple eyes widening in realization. "I had all the time in the world to set this up. I must thank you Kurami for helping me buy all this time." His turquoise gaze shifted briefly towards the 7th seat before settling back on the shocked arrancar. "Your weapon may have eight arms, however mine is all the water in the atmosphere" As he said those words, several large pillars of ice erupted from the ground, circling Luppi like predators ready to strike their prey. "Sennen Hyourou" With those two words, the ice pillars came towards the arrancar as Toshiro tilted his blade to the right. A horrifying screech filled their ears as the pillars crashed into Luppi, practically ending his life.

Yume called her zanpakuto back into its sealed form, sheathing the blade. "It's over right?" A tired sigh escaped her lips while she stared at the prison of ice.

"The real battle is just beginning" Toshiro mirrored the 7th seat's actions before his gaze shifted toward the other shinigami. "Are you all alright?"

Rangiku slumped forwards in pain, her mouth letting out inaudible noises. "Aw, I'm fine Captain! It's so nice of you too ask" The lieutenant quickly returned to her usual bubbly self, although she still let out a few 'ows' here and there. Toshiro scowled on this inside, wondering how she could be so happy and bouncy in this situation.

Yumichika brushed his hair, adjusted his feathers, and fixed his clothing. "That arrancar was beyond ugly. And just look at what it did to me" It didn't take long for the others to tune out the narcissist.

"Tch, I couldn't even get a good one-on-one fight, of course this isn't fine" Ikkaku frowned as he sheathed his zanpakuto, a bored expression coloring his face. Yume inwardly sighed at how much the 3rd seat seemed to love fighting, almost rivaling his own Captain's rumored bloodthirst.

All eyes darted towards a loud yelling coming towards their sides. "Isn't that..Urahara-san?" Yume blinked in confusion, completely confused at how she didn't even notice him arrive and start beating up the 10th Espada. Was she really that invested into her own struggles that she practically missed everything else that was happening around her?

She watched as the shop-owner clad in hats and clogs raised his zanpakuto up as if he was about to deliver the finishing blow to the arrancar. However, a blinding yellow light bursted out of the sky and shined upon the Espada. Her eyes widened at a crumbling sound and she swiftly turned her head around, a gasp escaping her lips. The ice prison crumbled into nothingness as a similar light pillar shined down upon it, revealing a barely alive arrancar.

Luppi looked at the 10th division with disgust full in his eyes. "Shame, isn't it Captain-san. You failed to kill me. Don't even think about forgetting my face." That same horrible smile spread across his face as he lifted his draped hand towards the Captain. "Because next time we meet I'll tear off your puny head and crush it to bits without fail" His voice rose with venom as he spat out the words. Yume watched as Yammy, Luppi, and the still-daydreaming-arrancar-that-pretty-much-did-nothing were lifted up into the sky and straight into a garganta. Her crimson orbs narrowed as the familiar zipping noise spread throughout her mind.

Xxx

"I insist that you lay down and allow me to heal you, Kurami-san"

"No no, I'm fine! I almost completely recovered Captain Unohana. Please, heal the others first"

A firm hand landed onto Yume's shoulder causing the 7th seat to slightly flinch, which unfortunately did not go unnoticed by the 4th division Captain. "Then at least let me give you a check-up" The smile plastered onto Unohana's face gave no room for argument and to say the least: it was very, very scary. Sitting down, Yume let her shoulders slump as she began to undergo a check-up. The events that had occurred just a few hours ago played through her mind once again.

According to what Ichigo Kurosaki and the others have said, Orihime had gone missing and this almost gave the 7th seat a heart-attack. She immediately thought of all the worst case scenarios and her mind was racing with panic. The only thing that helped alleviate some of her anxiety was that the ryokas, along with Renji and Rukia, decided to go into Hueco Mundo in trying to rescue the orange-haired human. Although, even if it did help Yume lift some of her worries for Orihime, it added another thing to fluster over. The Captain had decided that the remaining shinigami should head back to the Soul Society to prepare for the upcoming war with Aizen and Yume grudgingly followed his orders. She felt that she owed her life to Orihime. The maiden could save lives, and she proved that when she saved her own. In a way, the 7th seat had come to hold great respect and admiration for the human.

"You're all fine. Although the majority of your wounds have healed, do not push yourself and take some time off ok" Unohana gently patted Yume on the shoulders and walked out of the room, proceeding to the next patient. Closing the door behind her, the 4th division Captain couldn't help but ponder how the 7th seat already healed to such an extent and how none of her older wounds didn't open up during her fight against the arrancar.

Yume sighed inwardly as she made her way out of the 4th division compound and towards the 10th division barracks. As she walked across the wooden porch, she nearly ran straight into a certain white-haired Captain. "Captain" She backed away and slightly bowed, her eyes never leaving him.

Toshiro stared blankly at the 7th seat before walking towards his office. "Come with me for a moment Kurami. I have something to discuss with you" Once inside, he nearly face-palmed at the sight in front of him. There were mountains of paperwork spread out across the room, not having enough room to fit around his desk. He scowled and quickly made his way towards his desk, making sure to not step on any documents. On the other hand, he could've sworn he heard Yume curse.

The black-haired shinigami stood in front of the Captain's desk after carefully pushing away some stacks of paperwork so that they both could at the very least see each other. "So what did you need with me Captain?" Her voice was strained with disbelief at the amount of paperwork that was undoubtably going to be completed by only her and the Captain. Rangiku was most likely going to hide away in a far-off bar once she saw the office, if she hasn't already.

"I'm assigning you as 3rd seat" Yume merely stared at her Captain, her mind registering the words agonizingly slowly. Once they did, she almost fell to the floor in pure shock.

Coughing, Yume barely regained her composure. "Excuse me, Captain? Did I hear that you were assigning me as 3rd seat?" Now her voice was unbelievably strained, as if it was cracking with each word.

Toshiro saw this coming. He knew that the moment he told the girl that she would go into a state of disbelief. "Yes"

"And may I ask what I have done to graciously receive such a high position?" She emphasized each word with a forced smile, her eyes twitching. Did the Captain not hear her when she said she did not want to be in any position where she would most likely have to use her zanpakuto often? Or was he perhaps teasing her? She nearly scoffed out loud at the latter.

"You meet the requirements to be a good 3rd seat." The 10th division Captain stated this as if it was the most obvious thing there was.

"Captain, if I may. Did I not tell you that I would prefer not to be in a position to use my zanpakuto often" It was more a statement than a question.

The Captain folded his hands together as his gaze narrowed. "Kurami, we are about to go to war with Aizen and yet you are still reluctant to you your zanpakuto? Are you telling me that your determination to protect can be destroyed just because of your dislike toward your zanpakuto? Understand what is at stake here" Toshiro was nearly yelling at the shinigami before him. "You may use it as a last resort but you may not have as much time for that! We were lucky that the arrancar didn't know how to keep his mouth shut but next time it won't be that way"

Yume's eyes widened as his words sunk into her mind, permanently carving itself into her memory. It was as if reality had smacked her straight across the face. He was right in every sense of the world. Her hesitation could be all that's needed to lose a life. Her hands clenched into tight fists as she looked down at her feet. She felt like a small, small child. She cleared her throat and let out a silent sigh before staring straight at the Captain. "Thank you" She bowed slightly, emphasizing her words and gratitude.

Toshiro was taken aback by her actions. Here he was yelling at her and she goes replies in a 'thank you'. He raised a confused eyebrow at her words.

"Thank you for hitting me with reality. I believed that through kido and zanjutsu I wouldn't have to release my zanpakuto...I faced several situations where that was proved wrong but I was just so stubborn...stubborn to accept the reality that I need my zanpakuto." She glanced at the black and grey hilt before returning her gaze to the Captain. "I always believed that I should be proud in my own power, not in the powers that others have given me. I believed that it was wrong to brag about one's family background because they themselves didn't do all that work to gain that prestige. All they were doing was using the name. I never thought that a zanpakuto's power was really mine...it was my zanpakuto's. We call upon their powers, not our own"

Toshiro blinked a few times as her words registered in his mind. For some reason, he couldn't shake off the feeling that she wasn't telling the whole reason for why she was reluctant in using her zanpakuto. It was like the feeling was latched onto her voice and words. "You and your zanpakuto are partners. Your zanpakuto is supposed to be just like you, one in the same"

"Guess I never looked it at that way"

"It is taught in the academy when training to be a shinigami"

Yume smiled softly and the Captain saw something in it, something different from her usual smiles. It was something that he didn't like seeing on her face and he hoped that she would never smile like that again. "Captain...Would you like some tea?" Toshiro was caught off-guard from the suddenness of the random question.

"Are you saying that you accept your new position?" When all he received was another smile and an innocent cock of the head, he sighed. "Prepare a big pot...I have a feeling we'll be staying here for a long time"

x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x=x

Welp, I typed quite a lot...nearly six-thousand words. I know that the ending was a bit weird and confusing but it'll all be cleared up in the future! I don't want to show everything right off the bat! Anyways, sorry again for taking so long to update. Hope you all enjoyed reading through the chapter! Ciao Ciao~


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